Protesters across the U.S. and the Roaring Fork Valley held demonstrations on Friday to condemn violence perpetrated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis.
Several teachers from Glenwood Springs High School called out sick on Thursday night, prompting administrators to close the school the following day due to a lack of staff.
Many helped organize a protest on Grande Avenue on Friday with Mountain Action Indivisible, including Brit DeFord, an instructional coach who previously taught Spanish and English Language Development.
“I have taught many students, some of whom are immigrants, and I think it's really important that students see that their teachers stand in solidarity with them, regardless of their immigration status,” DeFord said. “We want them here. We love them.”
The teachers communicated via Zoom calls and group texts before deciding to take collective action as part of a nationwide general strike, during which protesters walked out of work and school and refrained from shopping.
“The best educators work to protect the most vulnerable people, and some of our students are vulnerable people,” DeFord said. “That's why we're out here.”
Organizers estimated hundreds of protesters showed up Friday outside of Glenwood Springs High School before walking down Grande Avenue.
Aidan Goldie, a high school physics teacher, said he hadn’t seen teachers organize a demonstration of this size since he began working for the Roaring Fork School District, but that ICE’s extreme tactics warranted an unprecedented response.
“I think this is new ground, at least since I've been tenured at Glenwood Springs High School,” Goldie said. “But these are also extraordinary events as well. So I think it's appropriate that it's a new form of action for teachers, but I don't think it's surprising.”
He added that the school district has seen declining enrollment in recent years, in part because families are leaving the Roaring Fork Valley, afraid of immigration detention.
Many students attended the protest this afternoon as well, grateful that their teachers made a statement against ICE.
“Honestly, it made my heart very warm,” Andrea Ruiz, 16, said outside her high school. “It made me very happy to see that my own teachers at my own school were willing to miss a day just for this. It makes me very happy.”
Ruiz added that she attended Friday’s protest to fight for the rights of those who couldn’t be there.
Carbondale students walk out
Carbondale high schools remained in session Friday, but dozens of students walked out in protest, joined by high schoolers from Glenwood Springs.
They met at the roundabout in Carbondale at the junction of Highway 133 and Main Street to show their support for immigrants and their disdain for ICE.
They waved Mexican and American flags and held signs that said, “Protect Human Rights,” "Abolish ICE, Deport Ignorance,” and “To Exist Is Not A Crime.”
Roaring Fork High School’s Sierra Burkholder, a junior, said many students didn’t find out about the protests until late Thursday night or early Friday morning, but that didn’t stop her and her classmates from showing up.
“It’s disgusting what’s happening,” she said. “They’re killing innocent people. They detained a five-year-old. They’re detaining people that have no crimes.”
“I think that it’s really powerful in a little town to talk about how much we see what’s happening in bigger areas. There’s not much ICE here, but there’s enough.”
Friday’s protests took place two days following an ICE arrest in Old Snowmass on Wednesday.
Other Roaring Fork High School students did not attend classes at all on Friday, including Lucas Munn.
“We don’t support what ICE is doing,” he said. “It goes against the Constitution.”
