Over 1,000 students at the University of Illinois and Urbana High School walked out of their classes on Friday as part of a nationwide protest against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
The protests took place amid growing pressure to rein in enforcement activities after federal agents in Minneapolis fatally shot Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good.
Several businesses in town also closed or reduced operations to take part in the movement encouraging people to avoid shopping, working or attending classes.
U of I students, community members march through Campustown
Immigrant Services of Champaign-Urbana Executive Director Maria Jimenez has been tracking ICE activity in town.
U of I freshman Reality Herron (right) said federal immigration agents targeting Hispanic-looking people has created fear among some of her family members. She said her grandmother recently asked her how to get a passport, even though she is planning to travel within the country.
Freshman Hadassah Dodson (center) said she wanted to speak up in a place where she has experienced more anti-Black racist comments from peers than ever before.
Freshman Nevy Wallace (left) grew up in a small town and was excited to attend her first political demonstration.
Undergrad Joaquin Valencia wanted to do something to counter the depressing news he has been reading about on social media. He hoped to cheer up others depressed about the situation as well.
Protesters marched from Wright to First Street and back on Friday afternoon.
A red sedan trailed behind the protest with blinking warning lights.
The driver of the car turned out to be Julie Pryde, trying to keep the protesters safe from other cars. She’s a former public health administrator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. Friday, she was a concerned bystander: “I was afraid that somebody wasn’t going to see them, and ram into them. And since I’m a mom, I got behind them with my blinkers on and just followed them all the way down here.”
On Green Street in Urbana, more than 1,000 people braved below-freezing temperatures to gather near the U of I Alma Mater. Protesters cut off traffic for three blocks at a time as they marched down Green Street from Wright to First Street.
U of I graduate student Stephanie Birch did not go to work today in order to attend the protest.
“The eye of Trump is on the state of Illinois, just like it is on Minnesota, because of [Governor JB Pritzker], who is standing up for us and especially the vulnerable people in this state, which is great. That also means [Trump] could drop the axe on our institutions that are trying to defend us, like our universities,” Birch said.
Birch said she understood the risk of protesting but felt it was important to show opposition to the Trump administration.
Immigrant Services of Champaign-Urbana Executive Director Maria Jimenez attended the protest. They have been tracking Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in town and want to see it come to an end.
“There’s situations of seeing ICE waiting — in our community — outside of daycare centers, waiting outside of situations in which children are present,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez said some of those taken by ICE from Champaign-Urbana have had criminal records, and others have not.
“I think probably the worst situation we saw was when there was a truck of about seven or eight individuals [who] were headed to work at about 5 a.m. in the morning, and they were all picked up. There [were] never any warrants that were distributed,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez said even if someone had done something violent, they would prefer to have them tried through the usual legal process. She said releasing the person into another country may promote violence there and lead more people to flee that country and seek asylum in the United States.
Jimenez hoped those at the protest would take other actions to help immigrants, from contributing to pro-immigrant fundraisers to having conversations about immigration with acquaintances.
‘We need young people to stand up for our future’
A little over a mile east in downtown Urbana, hundreds of Urbana High School students also walked out of their classes Friday afternoon.
The students held signs and marched down Vine Street to the Champaign County Courthouse. Several drivers honked their horns in solidarity as they passed by.
Freshman Victoria Lleras, vice president of the school’s student government, helped organize the walkout the day before. She said the group considered skipping school but decided a walkout would rally more support.
“The goal of this is if even one person in this community feels more safe, or one person in this community rethinks their place in this fight, then we succeeded,” Lleras said. “Small battles are really important, and right now we need to take as many small wins as we can.”
At one point during the walkout, students poured out ice cubes onto the sidewalk and stomped on them.
Local immigrant groups report there has been some ICE activity in Champaign-Urbana. However, the Trump administration has primarily focused its mass deportation campaign in larger metro areas, including Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
Several students said they still wanted to speak out against the influx of federal agents, regardless of whether they had been affected by it.”
Nobody I know personally has been attacked yet, from what I know of, and hopefully they never will be. But it personally involves everybody,” said Brooklynn Evans, a junior at Urbana High School. “The more of us there are, no matter where we are talking about it, the more people are going to listen, and the more they’re going to be forced to listen.”
Tamara Gingold, a teacher at the high school, accompanied her students while on her lunch break. She was proud to see her students taking a stand.
“It’s almost unimaginable in America why this is going on. It’s like we’re working backwards, and we shouldn’t be,” Gingold said. “So we need young people to stand up for our future. We need it. We have to have it, or else we’re not going to have a future.”
Business close, reduce hours to show solidarity
The following businesses closed on Friday, reduced their hours or posted online to demonstrate support for the protest movement:
- Art Coop in Urbana
- Plant Mode in Champaign
- The Literary in Champaign
- Common Ground in Urbana
- Exile on Main Street in Champaign
- Lazy Daisy Diner and Cafe in Urbana
- Good Judys Espresso and Bagel Bar in Urbana
- The Space in Urbana
- Fire Doll in Champaign
- Gallery Art Bar in Urbana
IPM’s Christine Hatfield and Illinois Student Newsroom’s Adelyn Mui contributed reporting.