Students from several North Texas schools continue to hold walkouts to protest ICE enforcement, face funding threats
Students are walking out of several North Texas high schools again to protest tougher immigration enforcement nationwide, while the state school board and Gov. Greg Abbott warn they could cut education funding if the demonstrations continue.
Over the last two weeks, students have been demanding changes within the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal agency following the shooting deaths of two people in Minneapolis and the arrest and deportation of civilians across the U.S.
"We are speaking for the people who cannot speak for themselves," one student from Haltom City High School told CBS News Texas.
Tuesday, students from Booker T. Washington for the Performing and Visual Arts have planned a peaceful protest to demand that ICE stay out of Dallas.
In partnership with the Next Generation Action Network, the students prepared a statement, that reads in part, "We feel that, as Texan students, it is our duty to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, to speak for those whose voices have been censored, and to fight for those who have been killed simply for trying to live."
Also, on Tuesday, hundreds of students from Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center in Oak Cliff walked out during lunchtime to protest ICE.
Abbott has criticized the walkouts, saying that school districts should be subject to cuts and liability if they allow students to leave class to protest ICE.
Late last week, three members of the State Board of Education expressed similar concerns, suggesting that an investigation into the walkouts be launched to see if they are in violation of school safety guidelines.
However, advocates, including the American Civil Liberty Union of Texas, said the students are exercising their right of free speech.
The Dallas Independent School District shared guidance regarding walkouts from the Texas Education Agency with district families, including the following:
- Students must be marked as absent and schools risk losing daily attendance funding if they allow or encourage students to walk out of class.
- Teachers that facilitate walkouts will be subject to investigation and sanction, including licensure revocation.
- School systems that facilitate walkouts will be subject to investigation and sanction, including either the appointment of a monitor, conservator or board of managers.
