Immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) actions, such as raids and detentions, create fear and uncertainty for students and families who are in diverse communities such as AHS. ICE has been an ongoing topic, where people are advocating on social media and holding protests. Although advocacy has been strong on social media to get rid of ICE, it seems that the AHS administration is not addressing the issue. But in recent events, it’s clear many people are afraid. A parent of a sophomore student who attends AHS was taken by ICE about 3 weeks ago while she was at school. This student, who prefers to remain anonymous, states that she struggled to process her fear during R5 when she found out her father was taken:
“I was more impacted and shocked because I didn’t know who to go to or where to get help. Me and my mom and siblings are the only ones in America,” she said. “We have no family here so it was a lot harder for us to find some ways or who to go to for help.”
Since then, she has had to take on a lot of responsibilities that she wouldn’t originally be handling considering that she’s only in high school .“I had to handle this almost by myself, calling lawyers and speaking to ICE. It affected me horribly academically, socially, emotionally and mentally because I haven’t been getting proper rest. Same with my mom, she’s very scared,” she added.
Community members and students are unaware about how to handle this situation. Students are being academically affected and not being able to focus on their studies. Which is affecting their mental health, day-to-day life and academic performance. This is an important issue and it has a crucial impact on the learning environment of these students because now schools feel like an unsafe environment. Students fear the safety of their parents and siblings being in school not knowing what can happen at home while they’re at school.
ICE is now aggressively expanding deportations outside buildings which students live in about 4 weeks ago.
“My friend texted me that there was ICE outside. I was honestly terrified and other people were closing their windows and locking their doors scared for their family. Unsure what could possibly happen next,” another freshmen student who prefers to remain anonymous said.
According to the fourth amendment, any force, including ICE, can not enter a private space like a home without a warrant. However, ICE disregards this constitutional rule by taking advantage of people who do not know their rights. There aren’t enough effective resources to help communities, no way to alert communities that ICE is around and not even schools, like AHS, are supporting students when ICE is the topic which impacts their students’ lives.
Students are feeling unsafe and uncertain about what’s going to happen next. According to DataUSA, approximately 43% of Annandale residents are immigrants.
“My parents applied for my family to come here and now that Trump paused the VISA, it just made us lose hope for our families to come here to build a new life.” Another junior student who also prefers to remain anonymous said.
Students’ families are being affected by all these changes, and they still remain clueless about what’s going to happen next. Considering the fact that even citizens are getting taken, this is a very important and diverse issue that needs to be looked into for the safety of students and community members. Some students who are interested in holding a walkout to spread word and fight for the community. This is a call to action, but I think we can make it even more powerful.
