Students across Austin walked out of class Friday as part of a national shutdown to protest federal immigration enforcement. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a social media post that the state is investigating the Austin Independent School District following the walkouts.
Hundreds of students from Kealing Middle School, Crockett High, Eastside Early College High and McCallum High schools all walked out to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence in Minneapolis and its operations in Austin.
The so-called national shutdown has drawn support from some Austin businesses, which shut their doors or donated profits to advocacy groups. The walkouts in Austin preceded a Friday evening rally at the Texas Capitol, which was attended by at least a thousand people, including several hundred high school and college students.
The protest was organized by the Austin chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which has held several demonstrations following the deaths of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and the detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo-Ramos in a South Texas ICE facility.
'They're tearing innocent families apart,' student says
Eastside student Jayla said she felt compelled to walk out because of the recent killings in Minneapolis and in Los Angeles, referencing the death of Keith Porter Jr. Jayla said she has also heard of Eastside families impacted by ICE activity.
“They're tearing innocent families apart,” the 17-year-old junior said. “They're killing innocent people — and they're just doing a lot. ”
Jayla joined hundreds of students who made the trek from the Capitol grounds up to the University of Texas campus. She said she heard about the protest that morning and said her mom supported her decision to walk out.
“This is bigger than school,” she said. “School’s still gonna be there.”
For Eastside senior Eluney, the demonstration was more personal because she knows people who are scared of what's happening.
“It is Austin, and all these kids have families that can be hurt in this situation or people can be taken and separated," she said. "Our school is so united, that it would hurt all of us if one person was taken away. So really it’s just our voices need to be heard and we need to be loud."
Christopher, another senior at Eastside, said the demonstration is proof that his classmates are "finally having our say" in federal policy as they approach the first election where they will be able to cast a ballot.
“It’s important for teenagers to be out on the streets because we’re the next generation that’s gonna have a say in this country, in this world, in this society," he said.
Gov. Abbott calls for an investigation into AISD over walkouts
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, responding to a social media post showing an AISD police vehicle escorting students during the walkout, said he has directed the Texas education commissioner, Mike Morath, to investigate the district.
"AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest. Our schools are for educating our children, not political indoctrination," Abbott said in a tweet. "This is one of many reasons why AISD is losing so many students."
The social media post Abbott was reacting to — posted by Brian Phillips, the chief communications officer of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank — showed photos of students marching with signs that said "F— ICE." In his tweet, Phillips said, "Austin ISD let kids out of school, with a police escort, to protest ICE at the Capitol."
Austin ISD responded to Phillips, saying the walkout was not a district-sanctioned event and that the presence of AISD police officers was for the safety of the protesting students marching through city streets during the school day. "Our students are exercising their first amendment right and parents have been notified," the district said. "Any absences will not be excused."
A 'new generation of revolutionaries'
Austin resident James Fabris said the protest at the Capitol was the fourth anti-ICE demonstration he’s been to this week. He called the students protesting a “new generation of revolutionaries.”
“These young people did this themselves, and that's what's most important to understand,” he said. “They were telling me that half their school walked out, and it wasn't even hard to convince the students to walk out. Everyone was like, ‘Let's go.’ I want to see this spread across the country. I want to see the adults catch up.”
McCallum High student June was one of at least a dozen students from the school who continued protesting on Capitol grounds after taking several laps around the school. June said she was inspired to attend because, as a trans kid, she knows what it feels like to be directly impacted by federal policies.
“I just think this is really important,” she said. “So I've been like trying to follow the news and be as informed as I can.”
After an hour of rallying, the group marched down Congress Avenue shouting chants of, “We want justice, we want peace, we want ICE out our streets,” and "Say it loud, say it clear, ICE is not welcome here."
Two protest attendees were arrested near Capitol grounds by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Austin Police Department officers. Neither agency immediately responded to requests for comment.
Austin businesses donate profits
Scores of businesses also joined the nationwide shutdown of businesses, including End of an Ear, Flitch Coffee and Room Service Vintage, among other businesses.
BookPeople said it wouldn’t close but would donate any profit on Friday to two unions in the Twin Cities area. SJ Thompson, the store’s general manager, said the store wasn’t able to completely shut down in light of this week’s freeze.
“Our logo is a community bound by books [so] we felt like we needed to stand in solidarity with the economic blackout,” they said. “Unfortunately, because of the weather throughout the week, we couldn't afford to close, but we also didn't want to profit off of anything happening today.”
Radio Coffee & Beer also stayed open but said it would donate half of all its profits to American Gateways and the American Immigration Council.
Bouldin Creek Café also decided to remain open, but it's donating all of its sales to Casa Marianella, a nonprofit shelter that serves asylum-seeking immigrants in Central Texas.
Owner Leslie Martin said it was a tough decision, but that she needed to stay open to pay her employees. Still, she wanted to help if she could.
"We were debating what we would do, and we were already gonna make a donation, and then we just decided to do 100%," she said. "It's a little scary because last week was rough, but I figured it was the right thing to do, and I knew that the community would take care of us back in the end."
With reporting by Andy Jechow
