The carpeted area in the cafeteria before the double doors was mostly barren. Fifth period had just ended; lunch lines began to amass, bagged lunches were zipped open, students swiftly ducked and weaved through the halls to get to gym class. The only unusual thing was the large mass of students congregating, waiting to walk out in protest of the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. At approximately 12:58 p.m., dozens of students exited Lockport Township High School in the middle of the school day. The remaining students dispersed to sixth period.

On February 5, an Instagram user with the handle @lthsicewalkout posted an image imploring students to leave school after fifth period. The post, captioned “F— ICE” and set to the song “LA MuDANZA” by Bad Bunny, used an AI generated image according to the account owner.  The following day, a large student body began amassing in the cafeteria at approximately 12:55 p.m. Students mused about there being “more people than usual” compared to the normal lunch period. Stragglers left the building one-by-one until 12:58 p.m. when students began exiting en masse.

Conflicting with an Instagram story posted by @lthsicewalkout claiming that participating students would only be marked as an unexcused absence, an email to parents sent by LTHS principals Dr. Jacqueline Johnson and Dr. Kerri Green on the morning of February 6 stated that students who left the building without permission would be subject to ordinary disciplinary policies and protocols, including “detention or suspension.”

@lthsicewalkout, who did not identify themselves, told Porter Press that, being a third generation immigrant, they wanted to give students a voice to speak against ICE and are grateful for the high turnout. “The abuse of power by ICE is something that needs to be addressed,” the account owner shared, “innocent people are being killed by ICE just by expressing the right to protest.”

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with enforcing immigration law within the U.S., has been at the forefront of the second Trump administration. Chicago, alongside other major U.S. cities, have been subject to dangerous, and sometimes deadly, immigration operations conducted by ICE. Minneapolis immigration operations proved to be a turning point for the American public, when videos showing U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti being killed by ICE agents circulated widely on social media and caused national outrage.

School walkouts protesting ICE have occurred throughout the Chicagoland area as well as the broader nation. Students attending Joliet Township High School also walked out during class, with 750 students partaking in the protest according to District 204. CPS students on Monday were heard during walkouts chanting “fuera ICE,” translating to “ICE out” in Spanish.

Senior B Demetrio, who participated in the walkout, emphasized that the crowd remained respectful to local businesses and listened to authority throughout the entirety of the protest, describing the cooperation as “bizarre in a way” for being organized by high school students. 

“It’s hard to ignore when you have hundreds of kids, children walking in the streets shouting about how ICE is ruining their families and how ICE is ruining their lives and their friends’ lives.”