On Wednesday, March 29th, hundreds of students from Santa Cruz High, Santa Cruz Community, Habor, Aptos, Soquel and Cesar Chavez (Barrios Unidos) left class at 10:00am to meet at the Clock Tower and march to the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. They marched for immigrant rights and justice and against HR4437.
After the walkout and march, I went over to Santa Cruz High and spoke to a small group of students. Ricky, a student at Santa Cruz Community and Edwin, a student at Santa Cruz High, discussed what happened and some of their motivations for marching.
The march united people who otherwise do not associate, including rival gangs. Students say they are frustrated and angry over HR4337, a bill they learned about only a week ago, which will have drastic effects on them as well as their family and friends.
They marched for what they want and what they believe in; their family, friends and justice for their people.
Some of the students that marched are facing consequences from the such as detention, suspension or perhaps even expulsion. As far as I know, nothing has been decided. The school administrations are closed as I type and publish this article.
* I learned about the demonstration from Darwin's report and commentary on the SC-IMC newswire:
Commentary: Immigrant Movements, Xenophobia, Racism
See Also:
Walkouts in Aptos, Watsonville, Hollister, Salinas, Santa Cruz and Greenfield for Immigrant Rights
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Crossposted at Indybay.org.