Today, at 1:23 p.m., hundreds of students walked out in response to recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities. Students met in the courtyard, then walked down to the intersection at Davis and Brodie. According to a letter sent out by Principal Dr. Cathryn Mitchell, 500 students participated in the protest; however, protestors suggested it could have been as many as 1,000.
The walk-out was organized by seniors Lyla Womack, Yazzie Bukhari, and Hannah Fellers. Two weeks prior, they created an Instagram account under the name @bowieprotests with details about the protest, what students should bring, and their rights as student protesters.
“Since Bowie is in a mostly privileged area and most students come from privileged homes, a majority of people feel removed from the situation going on, as they are in somewhat of a bubble,” Womack said. “I hope this walkout will bring light to the truth of the situation for students who haven’t seen coverage over this, and that the overall community understands how real and close to home these problems are.”
Recently, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has spoken out on his X account against anti-ICE walkouts across AISD. He has also threatened to strip the funding of schools that have faculty members who choose to allow these walkouts.
“Bowie has a duty to participate in the mass walkouts we have seen across the county and country. We have seen the threats AISD faces from Greg Abbot and do not intend to limit our voices, and instead choose to amplify them,” Womack said. “As every unexcused absence means the district loses money, we intend to use this to our advantage in hopes that mass walkouts will lead to a redistribution of funds away from systems that aid ICE.”
The walk-out started with students meeting in the courtyard. Students then proceeded to walk down Slaughter Lane, turned left on Brodie, and continued down to Davis Lane. Students showed up with signs, instruments, speakers, and megaphones.
“ICE is an organization that has shown time and time again that they’re unwilling to change their violent tactics practiced in their work, despite the harm and chaos they have brought to the public,” Bukhari said. “In a school district that follows attendance-based revenue, a walkout would cause a loss of profit. This guarantees catching the attention of our state government for our cause.”
When students got back to Bowie, many protesters stood by Slaughter Lane, near the parking garage and continued to raise their signs and chant. Multiple reporters came to document the protest, including KXAN, which posted about it on their social media and news channel.
“I think that although deporting criminals is just, ICE is directed to follow high quotas, meaning that instead of finding and deporting criminals, they are deporting hard-working families, those who are in the process of documentation, and even naturalized citizens,” Bukhari said. “I think if we want a solution to undocumented people in America, the easiest and moral way is to simply make the citizenship application process easier and cheaper, so those coming here for opportunity are met with justice and can give back to the greater American society.”
