On Tuesday, January 13th, hundreds of students at Eden Prairie High School staged a walkout in protest of ICE’s recent activity in Minnesota. The murder of Renee Good on January 7th in Minneapolis sparked many protests throughout the area, leading a few students at EPHS with the desire to make their voices heard. One of these students was Erin McCloud, a senior at EPHS who took part in organizing the walkout by making the Instagram page to spread awareness and planning the event itself.
“I just hope to unite the school and make a statement,” she shared. Before students left the building, she explained the plan to gather around the north entrance before peacefully walking out at 2:30 PM, a few minutes into fourth hour.
Another student who took part in organizing the event was Danielle Syring. Along with setting up the Instagram page, she also helped to organize the sign-making event the day before the walkout at Immanuel Lutheran Church. “Yesterday, a lot of people went to a church after school,” Syring explained, “we’re going to give them out to people who maybe didn’t have their own materials or didn’t bring a sign.” The event was organized to provide people who attended the walkout with signs protesting ICE.
On the day of the protest, students and staff found themselves in awe of the sheer amount of students that participated. For everyone in attendance, there was a meaningful story and purpose behind why they decided to speak out against ICE. EPHS is home to students with ethnic origins from around the world, many of whom are immigrants or have parents/close family who are. For senior Yuliana Cortez, attending the protest wasn’t about taking a political stance– it was about standing up for what is right. “This isn’t even democratic vs. republican,” she said, “this is basic humanity.” For Cortez and many other students at the high school, they don’t consider politics as part of the protest.
“Anyone who is continuing to give their full support to ICE, seeing the murders that are happening in our streets, what are you doing?” She questioned. Junior Amogh Singh participated due to his belief that ICE should not have the authority to murder innocent people and get away with it in Minnesota, saying that ICE is turning into a modern SS. Along with Singh, many others have compared ICE’s actions in Minnesota and the rest of the country under Donald Trump’s administration to the beginnings of the Holocaust in Germany.
Senior Donald Le’s motivations for attending were also rooted in what is right and what is wrong. “I believe what the DHS is doing is completely unconstitutional,” he shared. And there needs to be more proactive movements like this against it.”’
Another student standing up for immigrants at the walkout was senior Nawal Abdullahi who shared her reason for attendance.
“This administration affects a lot of people who I love and people who communities that they have built in Minnesota for such a long time,” she explained. “Everything that’s going on is showing that they have no care for who we are as individuals, but I wanna show that I have that care.”
Sophomore Ryan Alfoqaha said that ICE is abusing their power to create fear in immigrant communities. “ICE is killing people, they’re tearing apart families,” he shared, “and they’re targeting immigrants when immigrants make our country what it is today.”
Salman Mohamed, a senior walking with Alfoqaha also shared his reason for supporting the walk out as well. “I want to support the community here at Eden Prairie High School,” he shared. Mohamed has been an immigrant in the US since 2019, giving him a personal connection to the walkout.
Students from all backgrounds stood together to raise their voices not just against policy or politics, but for the basic humanity and dignity of people whose lives are affected by federal actions like the recent ICE enforcement and the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Thousands across Minnesota and the country continue to call for accountability and justice, turning pain into purpose through peaceful protest and community support.
