Hundreds of Central students stayed home from school Feb. 3 in support of A Day Without Immigrants, a nationwide demonstration where immigrants and allies stayed home from school and work and chose to not shop to highlight the contributions of immigrants.
Central’s average daily attendance in January was 80.48%. On Feb. 3, the average daily attendance was 66.31%.
“I participated because people standing together is what’s important,” said one student whose parents encouraged them to participate. “It shows people that it they think getting rid of immigrants will make this country better, they’ll realize their mistake the hard way.”
Thousands of undocumented immigrants have been detained or deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump also signed an executive order eliminating birthright citizenship, U.S. citizenship for children of immigrants, although this goes against the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and has been blocked in federal court.
Many students received information about the protest through social media posts. They mentioned the importance of unity, positivity and community for people of color in general. One post read, “We have power in our purchases, they are nothing without our money and labor.”
Some teachers reported having nine out of 30 students, 13 out of 24 students, or nine out of 36 students present in class. One study hall had 68 out of 113 students.
“It has seemed like a quiet day,” English Learners (EL) teacher Calyn Schnabel said in an interview on Feb. 3.
English Learner teacher Mary Davies said some of her students who are immigrants came to school because they feel safer at school than at home, or they supported the protest even though they did not participate.
“Although I am a citizen, being a part of A Day Without Immigrants allows me, along with multiple individuals, to put a part into demonstrating that the United States relies on Hispanics,” said Jimena Muñoz, a student who supported the movement but attended school.
“The thing that is tough is, we want to see freedom of speech, we want to see protesting, but a lot of our students who are [English Learners] have often times poor attendance…,” social studies teacher Ben Boeckman said. “This is a population we’re trying to support to make sure they’re successful.”
But to some, proving the importance of their presence in American society and taking a stand against Trump’s executive order was prioritized on this day.
“I think that America is a country that was built on the back of immigrants,” said the first student. “Many people don’t realize that—or maybe they do and just don’t want to acknowledge it—but if the people think deporting all immigrants and separating families is the correct thing to do then I’m worried about [their] morals.”
