Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
After a mass walkout earlier this year to protest threatened ICE raids, Overfelt High School students remain energized and are mapping out how they can organize the community, stage more protests and keep classmates safe.
In January, the Trump administration revoked immigration sanctuary status for schools, hospitals, churches and other community organizations, meaning that these locations are no longer safe from ICE activity.
People of color make up about 99% of Overfelt’s enrollment, and many were mobilized to protest the impact of anticipated ICE raids on their community.
At the January walkout, student organizers gave speeches on the school quad before leading an estimated 600 student participants to march outside for four hours. Community members joined them along their way to the intersection of Story and King roads, creating a crowd large enough that the San Jose Police Department closed off a few blocks of the area.
The students had the support of Principal Vito Chiala, who sent out an email the night before informing parents that their children would not receive disciplinary consequences for participating in the walkout. Chiala, along with a few other staff members, joined the marching students to keep them safe.
“Through our students and their families, I experience the fear and ostracism that is caused by the threats of immigration enforcement,” Chiala said. “Part of keeping our students safe is demonstrating that their school is a place that values them and will stand with them in times of need.”
Overfelt English teacher Karl Nguyen said that the advocacy was entirely-student led. In fact, sophomore Jalysa Torres came up with the idea for a protest after a few reported ICE sightings in San Jose.
Torres said she noticed that many of her peers were not attending school due to fear of ICE raids. She decided to plan a walkout alongside sophomores Yesenia Marquez and Kevin Madrigal Alvarado, and other members of Overfelt’s Interact club, to raise support for these students. She was not expecting to receive such a large turnout, but was excited that many students showed up and made posters.
“Our community is really strong, it’s the heart of the East Side,” Torres said. “Most of my friends’ families are immigrants or they are undocumented. They don’t have the voice I have since I have papers.”
Another student said, “I chose to participate in the walkout cause I know the struggle that most immigrants go through. Most of my family are immigrants too. They weren’t able to get their visas in time.”
Torres said that after Overfelt’s walkout, her friends from other high schools such as Wilcox High School in Santa Clara and Oak Grove High School in San Jose reached out to her for help in planning their own walkouts to protest ICE activity.
The widespread participation also led the students to host a workshop on Feb. 15 at the Overfelt library, aimed at teaching students at other high schools how to organize. The workshop was facilitated by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a small socialist political party. While the party is not registered in California, it has members across the Bay Area, including Nguyen.
At the workshop, Alvarado spoke about his experience organizing the walkout. “Students were happy about what was achieved. Many started asking when the next protest was and if it was going to be even bigger,” he said.
A high school student in San Jose attended the workshop to learn how to support her immigrant parents. “Knowing I can organize protests and groups myself is life-changing. Now, I feel like I can help my parents, who have sacrificed their lives for me,” she said.
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After the panel, attendees were split into three breakout groups — high schoolers, college students and community members — to discuss future community organizing plans.
Andrea Nevarez, a graduate student at San Jose State University, said she was excited to see people of all ages and parts of the community come together in the library. She is looking forward to organizing a similar walkout on SJSU’s campus.
Since then, Overfelt has hosted two more workshops for students to continue community organizing. The school has also heard from students at Yerba Buena, Mount Pleasant, and Silver Creek High School who are interested in a multiple-school wide protest.
Torres hopes their work will encourage and inspire more students across San Jose to get involved in protests. “Don’t be scared. Just take the risk. Reach out to us at Overfelt and we can help you,” she said.
Antara Gangwal is a senior at Leland High School.
