- Bingham High School students in South Jordan walked out of class to protest the ongoing crackdown around the country on illegal immigration.
- Last week Ogden High School students demonstrated, marking the first time high schoolers have publicly demonstrated, at least in Utah.
- The critics, like other demonstrators, decry immigration agents' efforts as excessive and too violent.
SOUTH JORDAN — As protests against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown erupted around the country, Samara Perry, a senior at Bingham High School, watched but kept quiet.
Finally, she felt compelled to speak out, and on Tuesday, she joined around 100 other students from the South Jordan school in walking out between classes and protesting.
"We are so sick and tired of not letting our voices be heard," Perry said. "I thought especially in a red state like Utah, having a group of teenagers who know that this is wrong would make a lot more of a difference, especially since most of our state supports (President Donald) Trump."
Demonstrations by critics of the ongoing immigration crackdown have become a regular thing in Utah, as in the rest of the country. But now the urge to publicly speak out is trickling down to high school students for the first time, at least in Utah. Around 200 or more students from Ogden High School in Ogden walked out of class last week to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions around the country, followed by Tuesday's protest at Bingham High School.
Students at two other Salt Lake County high schools also planned to demonstrate later Tuesday.
Elliot Ting, a Bingham High School sophomore, was among the students carrying signs and protesting along South Jordan Parkway, the busy street in front of her school. "I just wanted to actually participate and feel like I wasn't the only one feeling this way," she said.
The students' message parallels those at other protests against the immigration crackdown that have erupted across the country. The Trump administration says the immigrants that agents are targeting pose a public safety risk to the country and deplete the nation's resources. The foes, though, decry what they view as the unnecessary force and violence employed by the agents.
"Just the way ICE handles deportations is awful," Ting said.
ICE has been around for years, Perry said, but the agency hasn't acted like it is now. "We haven't had them ripping people out of their homes and separating families," she said.
Jason Cruz, a Bingham High School junior, referenced the killing of two demonstrators by immigration agents this month in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
"Way too violent," Cruz said, contrasting Trump's approach with that of President Barack Obama. "I agree with Obama. ... He deported criminals, people that hurt our country. Trump is literally deporting people just based off skin color, based off accent."
Alia Ngatuvai, of Tongan descent, emphasized the role immigrants play in bolstering the U.S. economy.
"I come from a family of immigrants, so watching people leave or being forcibly removed is hard to watch," she said. Immigrants "are our workers and they're the base of everything we do and we can't grow without them."
This story will be updated.
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Tim Vandenack
