EAST SAN JOSE high school students and immigration advocates are protesting recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in San Jose.
Hundreds of students from William C. Overfelt High School in East San Jose participated in a walkout Tuesday and marched to the intersection of Story and King roads, where residents reported seeing ICE agents Sunday. Students carried Mexican flags and signs reading “Immigrants make America great” and “Protect our farmworkers,” while chanting “Stop the raids, stop the hate.”
Natasha Salazar, a student at Overfelt High, thinks it’s unfair to break families apart.
“People who really aren’t criminals shouldn’t be labeled as criminals,” she told San José Spotlight.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan confirmed Monday ICE has been active in the city. The federal agency, which has a field office in Morgan Hill, has been increasing its focus on undocumented immigrants since President Donald Trump took office — stoking fears of deportation in the community. San Jose and Santa Clara County officials have been working to support residents who may be at risk of deportation. The county is home to an estimated 134,000 undocumented immigrants.
“We don’t participate nor are we asked to participate,” Mahan said in an interview with CNN Monday. “San Jose Police Department, when appropriate, will certainly share information with other law enforcement agencies if it is in the interest of keeping people safe, but we do not ask people their status or engage in immigration enforcement as routine business in our city.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
Lori Ramos-Chavez, vice president of ConXión to Community, said she is already seeing how the fear of raids has affected students and the community. Her organization provides mentorship, life skills training and academic support to students in East San Jose, a predominantly Latino and disadvantaged part of the city. She said participation has dropped about 40% since last week, which she fears will negatively affect students’ futures.
“When you live in fear, how can you think about the future?” Ramos-Chavez told San José Spotlight. “You just think about right now, trying to survive until tomorrow, trying to stay with your family.”
J. Manuel Herrera, a trustee with the East Side Union High School District, said it’s rare for district students to walk out of class.
“But they and all of us are living at a historic time in our nation,” he told San José Spotlight. “This was a walkout driven by conscience and compassion in response to the palpable fear in our community. Our students are publicly saying that no vulnerable members of our community will stand alone, that there are many of us who will stand with them for whatever lies ahead.”
“When you live in fear, how can you think about the future? You just think about right now, trying to survive until tomorrow, trying to stay with your family.” Lori Ramos-Chavez, vice president of ConXión to Community
Ofelia Machuca, an alumna of Overfelt High, attended the walkout and protest. She said while she was born in the U.S., she has family members who are undocumented and afraid to go to work.
“I fear for my family. I fear for my community,” Machuca told San José Spotlight. “Where my fear stems from is knowing that people that we love and care about are no longer going to have that opportunity to be here to succeed.”
Machuca carries know-your-rights cards to hand out wherever she goes. The cards are meant to educate undocumented immigrants on their rights, including knowing they can choose to not answer questions and refuse to let an ICE agent inside their home without a warrant.
“I really hope, and I’m trusting that if ICE is here, that they’re taking the people that they’re supposed to take, like the people who are committing these crimes and harming the community,” Machuca said. “Not a hard working father, not a hard working mother.”
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.