Local teens walk out of LAHS, march in protest against ICE
Students gather at Ashley Pond after federal agents kill two in Minnesota
Los Alamos High School students on January 30 walked out of class and gathered at Ashley Pond to protest ICE’s immigration enforcement practices, specifically in response to the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“We set all this up in support of Minneapolis,” said Abel Sayre, one of the student organizers. “Just seeing how unapologetic [ICE agents] were in the videos, all the hatred… I just felt like something needed to be done about it.”
The demonstration was organized by LAHS students in partnership with Indivisible Los Alamos, a local branch of a national grassroots movement that seeks to empower local groups to defend democracy.
The walkout was not sanctioned by school or district officials, and in an email to parents on January 27, LAHS administration noted that students who “wish to express their views are encouraged to do so in ways that do not disrupt instruction or compromise student safety.” However, it also stated that students who participated in the walkout faced being marked absent and that they could face “appropriate school consequences.”
For many students, like co-organizer Anna Gattis, the importance of the protest outweighed the potential consequences. “Especially right now, it’s important to have a community of young activists, of people who share the same values as us. Just having a place to bring us together is really special.”
Christa Brelsford from Indivisible Los Alamos supported the students’ organizational logistics for the protest and confirmed that safety was the top priority. “When the school administration reached out to me, it was very clear that the conversation was about making sure everyone stayed safe, that nobody gets hurt,” she said. “For everybody in town across the board — from the county community development office to lawyers and school administrators — the focus has been keeping these kids safe and making sure they can exercise their First Amendment rights.”
Students say walkout was about community, not cutting class
The walkout was advertised with a poster designed by students that was shared rapidly online across local Los Alamos Facebook groups and subreddits.
The response to the walkout from adults in Los Alamos naturally varied.
“Thanks, you are growing wonderful citizens who care about other people and about our country,” one supportive commenter wrote on a Facebook post.
“They’re kids. They’re too young to understand politics just yet,” another argued. “All this is to them is an excuse to skip school.”
“The biggest misunderstanding from adults is that we’re doing it just to get out of school,” Gattis said “We’ve seen a lot of that on Facebook especially. It’s really not about that at all — it’s about showing them what we stand for and being a community.”
Sayre said that if students wanted to skip class, they’d simply skip class. “I think that a lot of adults don’t think that us kids really care about what’s going on. Now, we’ve shown that we obviously do.”
“Adults push us down too much and they need to know that we have a voice — not just them,” said Sal Dewitt, a Boomtown intern and reporter who published a piece on the Teen Center and teen culture in Los Alamos. “Even though we don’t specifically have a place in the government the way they do, we have a voice. We are the upcoming voters — we are allowed to have a place and that voice because one day soon we will be the ones holding that power.”
Taking a stand despite possible punishment
Sayre said he was up front with the school administration in the planning phases for the walkout and protest. “I had a meeting with [Assistant Principal Ryan Finn], and he did say nobody would be suspended for this. It seems that the punishment will be one day of lunch detention, which we’re all willing to pay that price… Without consequences, then what are we standing for? We’re out here to show that we’re willing to give up our school time — willing to get punished — for the cause.”
Brelsford, with Indivisible, emphasized the importance of consequences when it comes to civil disobedience. “When you break the school rules, you face consequences. Part of civil disobedience is facing consequences for your actions — that takes courage to do and makes the action meaningful. These students must be great kids — I’ll bet they don’t get detention very often because they’re such fun kids to work with.”
A call to action
During the protest at Ashley Pond, other members of the community joined students in support, and many brought their own signs and flags.
Students who marched encouraged adults to be involved in local politics, and specifically to support New Mexico House Bill 9, the Immigrant Safety Act, which recently passed the House on a 40-29 vote.
The legislation, if it were to become law, would stop state and local agencies from cooperating with federal immigration detention, including preventing the use of public resources or land to support ICE operations. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also recently expressed support of an amendment to the bill that would prohibit local law enforcement officers from sending local jail inmates to ICE custody.
Supporters of the bill say it’s a step toward ending family separations — something several students spoke about at the protest, sharing how it has personally affected their lives — and toward holding the system accountable.
“The most important point is that our students and our town are responding to the urgency of the moment,” Brelsford said. “That America is in crisis and it’s on us — not on the federal government, not on the courts, not on anyone else — to make sure democracy survives.”
Following the protest, Dewitt said she hoped that people will start taking these matters more seriously and will call out oppression when they see it.
“ICE has definitely done some terrible and damaging things to the people who they’re trying to detain and it’s not OK,” she said. “You should always be willing to question authority.”
