Nearly 150 Camas High School (CHS) students walked out of class on Wednesday, March 4 at the start of fifth period to protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to what some say are violent and unjust practices the agency has been using in recent months.
ICE’s recent fatal shootings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and the agency’s recent use of tear gas during a Portland, Ore. protest motivated senior Charlie Irwin to organize an anti-ICE walkout at CHS.
“I think it’s important that students know that they have a voice in anything just relating to their local government, or in a wider spread of that, because a lot of people feel that they can’t do anything, that it’s too big,” Irwin said.
Students first organized the walkout the week before mid-winter break. Irwin gathered their friends who stood against ICE to plan the walkout, make signs, and create flyers to hand out to potential student protesters over the next four weeks…