Blackfoot High School students organize walkout against ICE
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BLACKFOOT — High school students in Blackfoot walked out of classes on Thursday to protest recent actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers across the country.
Asean’ee West, a 16-year-old sophomore at Blackfoot High School, said she organized the walkout, which about 30 students participated in.
“I’ve seen videos of other schools doing walkouts, and then I thought of doing one myself for our school,” West said. “Then once I’d seen some Idaho Falls schools do it, I had the confidence.”
She said that she and many, if not all, others participating had excused absences from their parents.
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Brian Kress, Blackfoot School District 55 superintendent, said all parents and students received a letter prior to the walkout to inform them that the school’s administration was aware of the planned protest.
“As a public school, we recognize that students have constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and peaceful expression under the First Amendment,” the letter states. “We respect students’ rights to hold and express their views on political and social issues. Civic engagement and thoughtful participation in democracy are important values in our society.”
The letter also told parents that because the school is responsible for student safety and enforcing district attendance policies, “participation in a walkout during instructional time will be considered an unexcused absence” until parents take the necessary steps to have it excused.
“We encourage families to discuss civic engagement, respectful dialogue, and responsible decision-making with their students,” the letter states. “We also encourage students to consider ways to express their views without disrupting instructional time.”
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West said she hopes to organize more protests in the future, but will probably schedule them on non-school days so more teens can attend.
“Everyone should be welcome (in the United States),” West said. “It doesn’t matter the race, the color of their skin — everyone’s welcome. And no one is illegal on stolen land.”