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Hundreds of Denver Public Schools students, some carrying handmade signs and others with Mexican flags draped over their shoulders, left school Wednesday and walked to the Colorado Capitol to join a massive protest against President Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump, can’t you hear?” they chanted. “Immigrants are welcome here!”
The protest unfolded on the same day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided several apartment buildings in Denver and Aurora.
ICE’s Denver office said on social media that it was working with several other federal agencies to target members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua for arrest. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Denver Post and other media outlets reported that it was unclear how many gang members were found or arrested.
A Denver Public Schools spokesperson said five school buses had to be rerouted due to ICE activity at an apartment complex. Matt Meyer teaches fourth grade at Denver Green School, which is located about a mile from that apartment complex, called Cedar Run.
Meyer said he and another teacher drove to the complex Wednesday morning. In the spot where the school bus would usually pick up dozens of Denver Green School students was a different bus that Meyer described as the kind that transports prisoners.
“The visual of that,” Meyer said. “That’s literally where our school bus should be.”
About a third of the fourth grade wasn’t at school Wednesday, Meyer said, some because they couldn’t board the school bus. Other students at the school got picked up by their parents midday, he said. Denver Green School is one of several Denver schools that has in recent years enrolled many migrant students from Venezuela and other countries.
Meyer said some students were scared, while others hadn’t heard about the raids. He said one student asked, “Did they come to our apartment complex because we’re Hispanic?” Another student asked if ICE was going to his complex next and if his mom was safe.
“I didn’t know what to say except that your mom wants you here and you’re safe here,” Meyer said. To be extra sure of that, the school kept students inside for recess, he said.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that there had not been any ICE activity at schools, hospitals, or churches, despite Trump clearing the way for immigration enforcement at previously off-limits “sensitive locations.” Johnston has said he will sue the Trump administration if it instructs ICE agents to detain residents at such locations.
Wednesday’s protest at the Colorado Capitol was part of a nationwide movement that called for 50 protests in 50 states on one day. Similar protests occurred in states such as California, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, and Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press.
Support for immigrants and outcry against Trump’s immigration policies — including his promise of “mass deportations” — was a main focus of Colorado’s protest. High school students carried signs with slogans such as, “MAGA: Migrants Aren’t Going Anywhere” and “Proud hija of immigrants.”
“This is our people,” an 11th grader named Alex said while waving one end of a Mexican flag to the honks of oncoming traffic on Lincoln Street. Alex said he and several other students had come to the protest from far northeast Denver, 15 miles away, though he declined to give the name of his school. Chalkbeat is only using students’ first names to protect their privacy.
As for why he was protesting, Alex said, “It’s messed up that they’re doing this to our community.”
Students from North High School and nearby CEC Early College met at a park at 10 a.m. and walked three miles to the Capitol. They were among the first to arrive. The students lined the sidewalk and climbed up on metal posts, shaking signs and chanting.
“My parents came here for a better future for me,” a 10th grader named Joselyn said back at the park. “I’m sick of waiting anxiously on my phone to see what’s happening.”
Syiah, also in 10th grade, said she was afraid members of her family would be targeted by ICE, not because they are undocumented but because they are people of color.
“They’re ripping families away from each other,” she said.
A ninth grader named Violet said she was nervous at first about the idea of a protest. She said she worried that a big demonstration would “put a spotlight on people who are undocumented.”
But she said she came to realize that “instead of fear, it shows we are angry and not afraid.”
Word about the protest spread organically from student to student, said an 11th grader named Annabelle. She said she decided to walk out of class because she believes Trump’s policies hurt families like those of the Venezuelan students who enrolled in her school over the past year.
“My family is made up of a long line of immigrants,” Annabelle said. “I see injustice, and I’m not going to sit silently while it’s happening.”
By 1 p.m., the protest had grown so large that it spilled onto Lincoln Street. Students from several other Denver high schools walked out too, according to a district spokesperson, including West High, Manual High, Denver Center for International Studies Baker, DSST: Cole, and DSST: Cedar. The students joined adults in marching up and down the streets surrounding the Capitol building.
Young people stood in the beds of pickup trucks, waving Mexican flags in standstill traffic. A group of elementary school students on a field trip to the nearby Denver Art Museum hung over the concrete wall of an outdoor courtyard during lunchtime, watching the protestors.
“Viva México!” one elementary student shouted.
“It is our first protest,” 10th grader Joselyn said. “I hope many more come.”
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
Melanie Asmar 2025-02-06 01:36:31
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