Friday, March 13, marks the second of WJ’s in-school demonstrations against the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Controversy arose earlier in the week when the two students spearheading the campaign disagreed on the timing of when the walkout would be held.

Senior Haneul Kim was working with senior Olivia Fioravanti to organize the walkout, which was intended to protest the current actions that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking to tackle immigration.

The two students differed in their opinions on when the protest would take place. Fioravanti sought to abide by the school administration’s decision that the walkout would take place during the lunch period. On the other hand, Kim sought to defy the administration’s wishes and conduct the protest during scheduled instructional time.

Whether or not Kim was in the wrong here is not the issue at hand. As a matter of fact, following the disagreements between the leaders, Kim hosted a separate movement in which students were surveyed on whether they preferred to walk out at lunch or during class. Votes for an in-class demonstration totaled 69%.

A protest, by definition, is a formal display of disapproval or dissent regarding an issue, intended to influence public opinion or government policy. That said, protests are not meant to align with administrative decisions—they are intended to defy them.

What is a protest if it operates in the confines of the exact power structure that it attempts to reject? The question I pose to the students who are conflicted between participating in the walkout and abiding by their parents and administrators rules is this: what is most important to you?

If it was important to you to fight for a cause, in this case, the mass deportations and detentions of American citizens, naturalized citizens and immigrants, then why should it matter what school officials say to you, what law enforcement does to you, or what your parents hold against you?

Frankly, as a person who never had any intention of protesting at school, no one is forcing you to protest or not. If being on the principal’s good side is more important to you, then don’t protest. If you want to see radical change, then protest and accept the consequences of your actions.

Those of you who choose to protest should not be surprised when you find yourself waiting patiently in the main office, knowing that you’re in trouble. You should not be afraid of detention, suspension and expulsion. You made a choice and you pay the price. Take accountability.

To all of you collectively, I ask you to keep in mind that the DOH and ICE are not isolating illegal immigrants in their actions. Remember Renee Nicole Good? Alex Pretti? They were American Citizens. They were white. Now they’re dead.

According to ProPublica, over 170 American Citizens were wrongfully detained by ICE and the DOH in 2025 alone. In 2026, the numbers are only rising at an unfathomable rate. As of March 2026, 225 immigration detention facilities are operating across the nation, with more being opened as the weeks come. Sounds like a concentration camp, doesn’t it?

When a system is flawed, the cracks spread throughout its foundation, and the entire structure comes down with it. No penthouse is safe from an earthquake once the bottom floor gives in. Let me rephrase–these immigrants represent a large proportion of the American working class. Economically, losing these immigrants decreases our gross domestic product and drives up inflation, leaving we, the people, to suffer. Not even the upper classes are safe from the repercussions that mass deportations will have on our nation. What is a king without subjects? What is a king without a kingdom?

The issues in our nation today do not discriminate between black or white, male or female, Democrat or Republican. These problems impact us as a nation, regardless of our citizenship statuses. This is a nation built on immigrants and their progeny.

Let us recognize that our nation’s present conflicts are class struggles. Socioeconomic class encompasses all the divisive titles that we bestow upon ourselves—race, ethnicity and political affiliation. When the upper class, the Epstein class, exploits its power, it is we, the people, the lower and middle classes, who suffer.

Please, America, wake up. Wake up in time before more of our citizens are detained and imprisoned. Before more people lose their freedom of speech. Before more of our men come back in body bags, fighting the upper class’s wars.

If our country and its people are so important to you, wouldn’t you stand up for them? Or would you fear persecution by authorities? Scolding by your parents?

If you choose to fight, then fight. But fight ‘by any means necessary,’ as Malcolm X said. If you don’t fight, don’t weep when the system crumbles, taking it down with you.