During the 2024 election, one of the candidates, Donald J. Trump, made numerous promises on what he would achieve once sworn into office. Numerous of which have failed, however, there was a promise he unfortunately had kept and is continuous about; and that’s the deportation of immigrants within the U.S. Since then, our Democratic state of Virginia has been majorly disapproving of this action, which was able to inspire an admin’ approved walkout within Osbourn–which was scheduled to occur on February 10th during fourth block classes.
Beforehand, some students were extremely eager over the idea of the walkout, because of the positive awareness brought by it. However, a few students also had their small speculations of the walkout.
For context, Osbourn has had a past walkout, one particularly was in support of LGBTQ+ and trans rights. Senior Larry Rubio elaborates that “Well, it happened in my freshman year, and I wasn’t well aware, so I didn’t get to experience it, and a lot of people went to support LGBT rights and get a word out, maybe only a couple went to just have fun and leave”.
The walkout gained a lot of positivity and attention towards the issue, however some negativity was also brought by a few disruptive students. “For that walkout, there was a really small friend group just yelling really terrible and harsh things. And so I just hope that this walkout doesn’t have anything similar occur,” said senior Victoria Irizarry.
With the circulation of ICE, the internet has also gained awareness over the topic itself. This has enabled for a wider audience to become aware of the subject, and it has also caused people to think of the issue as a trend. “I have seen people try to be funny and humorous about the situation online, and I feel like I might just come across people doing the same thing at the walkout. Like, there’ll be people just not taking it seriously and view it as an internet trend and not for what it’s actually meant to do and bring awareness,” said Rubio.
Students began the walkout during their fourth block class and made their way to protest at the drivers ed parking lot. So far, in the walkout environment, some students express gratitude and passion for the event. “I felt like I was really happy to see a lot of people at school care about stuff like this. It’s pretty easy to say, like, it doesn’t affect me and like, move on, but in the end it affects everyone,” said junior Cashlan Davis. Senior, Aziza Zarrincalaki says, “I think a positive thing is that I see a lot of people right now, like there are at least hundreds of people out here, and they’re all a united front. And I see a lot of signs, and I hear a lot of people talking about it among themselves, which in itself is bringing awareness”.
Although the majority of the event was in unity and in respect, others talked about the shared concern over how a few people disrespected others during the event and where the walkout was situated. “A negative is the number of people who just came out to just skip class and just play around, throw water, ice, all that stuff. There’s irony in the idea of people throwing ice at an ICE protest,” said junior Estefania Caballero. Additionally, sophomore Jude Lopez said, “Like, I understand if there’s something going on in Old Town later, but I feel like if this could make it there, it would be better because there’s more publicity. It should’ve been at Old Town instead, honestly.” In general, a lot of people argued that the walkout should’ve occurred at a place outside of school, in hopes to garner better attention and awareness from the community.
Others might be wondering why there was a need for this event. The answer is because of how ICE deportations and brutality negatively affect our students and community.
Lopez expresses his concerns and fear over things he has seen on the news, depicting how the U.S. has been running since President Trump began his second term. “I see ICE has absolute immunity, and the fact that they’re killing people on the streets and nothing is done about that; like this is just absolutely insane that this is where we are. The fact that we’ve gotten to this point is honestly just jaw-dropping, and I just feel like we should actually go after the criminals and not just any brown person on the street. Like it’s incredibly racist and I just don’t get how people can still support this,” said Lopez.
One of Jude’s classmates adds on with his personal experience dealing with ICE. “Yeah, my cousin had no criminal record, and he still got deported, and while on his way to work,” the anonymous sophomore said.
Zarrincalaki shares about how she has seen so many protests and revolts against the Trump administration’s policies and beliefs. “I’ve seen a lot of protests in the media lately. I’ve seen schools in Virginia, especially, doing walkouts and protesting just like us. I saw, like, so many No Kings protests, and there have been a lot of inside ICE protests as well. And including in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after ICE killed people there.” One of the topics that Zarrincalaki is referring to is the killing of Minneapolis woman Renee Good. Countless news sites, such as BBC, describe the situation as Good getting carelessly murdered by an ICE agent. Good was not only cooperative and respectful with the agents, but she was also a U.S. citizen by birth.
Overall, Osbourn students used this opportunity to unite and spread awareness on these issues; issues that are ultimately hurting all of us in the end. “People talk about illegal immigrants like the devil, but they don’t commit that much crime. They add a lot to our society and our economy,” said Davis.
Additionally, Lopez explains his concerns and why he participates and agrees with the walkout. “Because I disagree with the entirety of ICE, I believe that people should be free. America is the land of the free, home of the brave. People shouldn’t be illegal on stolen land because this isn’t ours. You know, this is the indigenous people’s, and we just happen to have a place here. And I just hate the direction that this country is going in. And I just– I feel passionate about this, and that’s why I’m here today.”
Where were you during the Osbourn walkout? Do you believe that it was a success? Why? Let us know your opinion!
