As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers continue mass deportations across the US, the violent nature of their arrests has been grabbing the attention of young people online. ICE has killed many civilians, including the highly-publicized murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and multiple people harmed in Portland, like David Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras who were shot by Border Patrol in January. Immigration enforcement’s actions have sparked national outrage and in response people all over the U.S. planned the national shutdown of January 30th, 2026. No work, no school, no buying anything, to protest the illegal actions of ICE.
Inspired by this cause, a group of Roosevelt student council members decided to join McDaniel and other PPS High Schools in organizing student-led protests. Together they spread the word through online posts, community flyers, and word-of-mouth. On Friday morning, it’s estimated that about 250 out of 1400 students attended morning classes, and that number dropped even lower after many walked out during lunch. Those missing students gathered in George Park that morning, and from Fessenden to Lombard, the community marched with signs and chants, making their voices heard.
The march passed shops and houses as people came out to cheer them on, before stopping in St. Johns Plaza, where protesters were encouraged to stand up and say a few words to the crowd. Roosevelt senior Ona Clarke-Sprague, spoke up, specifically about the importance of voting, because “although it is really powerful and important to come here and be together, we need to extend this beyond just the protest; we need to tell our lawmakers that we are here and we care, to actually make change. A lot of times people can get disheartened if they don’t see change being made. So we really need to do everything we can to spread the word,” said Ona.
Sophomore Oscar Ribero, one of the organizers, said “I reached out to OPB and a couple other news outlets, I reached out to the teacher’s union, and made sure people knew what was going on and spread the word […] I’m really proud of our community and how many people showed up to show their dedication to justice! Over time, if we bring different communities across the country together, that can make a really big impact if we keep going at it.”
We also spoke with Student Body President Jasmin Reyes-Contereas, another organizer who led the march and chants, to gain a closer understanding of the people’s intentions and outlook on the event. Jasmin, who led the march and its chants, said, “I have some friends who tried to start protests when they saw my posts, and their schools suspended students for not going to school or doing a walkout. And thankfully, you know, we live in North Portland, a very diverse community. I think our administration respects that and they want to see student leaders take initiative to start things and create change.” Additionally, Jasmin reflects on the wider effect of the protest on the neighborhood. “James John [elementary school,] when we walked by them, I made sure to stop the crowd and cheered, and they were at the fence cheering. When we walked to the square, and then we came back during their second period of recess, they went in the school and made posters themselves to cheer us on! I thought that was super adorable. And it shows these little kids are watching us. I mean, that probably left them with so many questions, like, why are they protesting? They might not fully understand what’s going on. But maybe once leadership opportunities come up, it’s like, oh yeah, I want to be doing things like that.”
In the crowd of Roosevelt students and the wider Roosevelt community, there were also students from other schools. Voices of Roosevelt spoke with a Cleveland High School student about why they decided to show up at Roosevelt’s protest, they said, “I’ve heard a lot of students from my school saying, like, oh I’ll go and do this thing, but I can’t do it today. I’ll go to the next one, or the next one. And I think it’s important to recognize that delay and realize that you have to stand up now.” A group of George Middle School students told Voices they printed posters for their classmates after Jasmin reached out to them. ICE’s actions have hit people in a way that transcends race, age, and neighborhood limits, and this diverse crowd of people shows the power in coming together to support each other.
Roosevelt math teacher and Indigenous Student Alliance advisor, Walker, shared his perspective as a teacher who stayed at school that Friday. “Personally, I stayed in school even though I supported the protest strongly, because I also feel that I support the same causes strongly every day by being a Roosevelt teacher. […] As soon as we heard the chanting we all ran outside to the front of the building. I was and am incredibly proud of our students. […] As I tell my students, ‘fair’ is not a concept that occurs in nature. We have to create it, protect it, and nurture it every day. When the systems that we have to live in are unfair, large or small, we have the responsibility to do everything in our power to make it fair, not only for ourselves, but for our families, our friends, and the society that we are part of. To see my students take action in that way was one of the proudest moments of my teaching career. Y’all rock.”
If you see ICE, call the PIRC hotline: 1-888-622-1510
