{"id":13702,"date":"2026-01-31T01:18:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-high-school-students-trade-class-for-anti-ice-protest\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:40:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:40:01","slug":"durango-high-school-students-trade-class-for-anti-ice-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-high-school-students-trade-class-for-anti-ice-protest\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango High School students trade class for anti-ICE protest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=5193bb3a-2f49-5ccf-9335-eec497fa01e2&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1413\" alt=\"About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>About 200 Durango High School students and a smattering of supportive community members marched down Main Avenue on Friday during school hours to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.<\/p>\n<p>Students intentionally missed two class periods to join the crowd, which made its way through DHS property, south to downtown Durango and back again. A handful of class absences can lead to disciplinary action \u2013 but many of the students marching on Main said they were more than willing to take an attendance strike to be at the protest.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=6395359e-ade1-5e18-98ad-cdec7312dab3&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1147\" alt=\"About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s our friends out there (being taken),\u201d 11th grader Lila Scherer-Sickler said as she marched alongside her classmates. \u201cIt\u2019s people we know in Durango, and we just felt like, as kids, we don\u2019t often get an opportunity to have our voice out there, and we just took the chance. A bunch of us are missing AP classes right now, (but) I think that the opportunity to get your voice out there is more important.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iqiI9LeMJVM\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The crowd of high schoolers touted handmade signs and called out chants like, \u201cWe want justice, we want peace, we want ICE up off our streets.\u201d Many passing cars and passersby honked, smiled and waved at the crowd. Some put up their middle fingers or shook their heads. One student said a classmate intentionally blew exhaust at protesters from his car as the crowd was leaving the school.<\/p>\n<p>Durango School District spokeswoman Karla Sluis told <em id=\"emphasis-7d97f295e43fc33b9d73c706b0a5be70\">The Durango Herald<\/em> in a written statement that the school was aware of the protest and \u201ccoordinated communication with local law enforcement and nearby facilities\u201d before the march.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=c0f11ac5-a6f1-5d61-a497-2cb87b9aee5a&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1375\" alt=\"About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>\u201cWe acknowledge students\u2019 First Amendment right to express their views,\u201d she wrote. \u201cAt the same time, we are responsible for students\u2019 safety and education. Usual attendance policies apply, and we encourage respectful dialogue through planned, supervised events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The protest comes after several months of rising tensions between ICE and U.S. citizens, in Durango and nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>A father and his two children were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/articles\/protest-erupts-after-ice-reportedly-detains-durango-students-parent\/\" id=\"link-71fb554446f65fb0049c3f54f081839a\" target=\"_blank\">detained by ICE<\/a> in October in Durango, despite having an open asylum case, and a man who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/articles\/resident-arrested-by-ice-on-new-years-eve-lived-in-durango-for-22-years\/\" id=\"link-9c468b064b94070fbabea63ad88a8a43\" target=\"_blank\">had lived in Durango for 22 years<\/a> was arrested in the city on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n<p>According to reporting by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/28\/deaths-ice-2026-\" id=\"link-30794778662d03de0154aa743a0b5fd8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em id=\"emphasis-ff7bf189e4fa5ac7d9226fb088582e71\">The Guardian<\/em><\/a>, at least eight people have died in dealings with ICE less than a month into the new year \u2013 including Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by ICE agents weeks apart.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=18117187-d381-5e89-9bef-4dbf0f3c7c23&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"861\" alt=\"About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Other people killed in interactions with ICE this year include Luis Gustavo N\u00fa\u00f1ez C\u00e1ceres, Keith Porter Jr, Geraldo Lunas Campos, V\u00edctor Manuel D\u00edaz, Parady La and Luis Beltr\u00e1n Y\u00e1\u00f1ez-Cruz, according to <em id=\"emphasis-9df418e8158d53fbcbc1564e969e430e\">The Guardian<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Eleventh grader Finn Hughes said he participated in the walkout because using his privilege as a white U.S. citizen is important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are abhorrent kidnappings, and they\u2019re happening not just in Durango, but around the nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=c2fed235-9bc1-53b8-b20b-b55c22a2d4f2&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1732\" height=\"1290\" alt=\"Durango resident Barb Day was one of the community members who joined the protest in support of students. She brought along a repurposed sign she used in 1968 to protest against the Vietnam War. The white side was used in 1968, and the red side was created for Friday\u2019s protest. She sat beside Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Durango resident Barb Day was one of the community members who joined the protest in support of students. She brought along a repurposed sign she used in 1968 to protest against the Vietnam War. The white side was used in 1968, and the red side was created for Friday\u2019s protest. She sat beside Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=3d11105e-c984-5ffb-aa4f-3729fef97b12&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1732\" height=\"1290\" alt=\"Durango resident Barb Day was one of the community members who joined the protest in support of students. She brought along a repurposed sign she used in 1968 to protest against the Vietnam War. The white side was used in 1968, and the red side was created for Friday\u2019s protest. She sat beside Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Durango resident Barb Day was one of the community members who joined the protest in support of students. She brought along a repurposed sign she used in 1968 to protest against the Vietnam War. The white side was used in 1968, and the red side was created for Friday\u2019s protest. She sat beside Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team. (Elizabeth Pond\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Durango resident Barb Day was one of the community members who joined the protest in support of the students. She brought along a repurposed sign she used in 1968 to protest against the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have this brutal masked secret police that are just breaking all of our constitutional rights, and people are dying,\u201d she said. \u201cMy parents were in World War II \u2013 my dad was in the Navy, and my mom was a combat nurse \u2013 and I know what my parents fought for. And this is just so wrong. We\u2019re losing decency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Liza Tregillus of the Apoyo Immigrant Partner Team also joined the protest in support of the students who marched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very proud of them, and I think (they\u2019re out here) because they\u2019re losing their own friends, and their own friends are terrified,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel we\u2019ve lost our democracy after 250 years, (and) we need young voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=629a39ae-b348-544c-84ca-1f26dcda212b&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"932\" alt=\"About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">About 200 Durango High School students walked out of classes Friday to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Students carrying signs chanted as they marched down Main Avenue to Buckley Park then continued through downtown. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Tregillus has worked closely with many immigrants in her line of work, including the father and two children \u2013 Fernando Jaramillo-Solano and his 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son \u2013 who were detained by ICE in Durango late last year. The family opted to self-deport back to Colombia after a month in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, but told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/articles\/family-seeking-asylum-in-durango-reunites-in-colombia\/\" id=\"link-a51f365cc89e6f5021298a7f8e94efa7\" target=\"_blank\">the H<em id=\"emphasis-cd52562fbae7076f98581cdb0716e701\">erald <\/em><\/a>in January through Tregillus that they feared for their safety back in Colombia.<\/p>\n<p>One student, ninth grader Owen Holland, said he had a connection to the Jaramillo-Solano family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a friend who lived here, from Mexico, and he was friends with them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it was like, really bad for my friend. It was really bad. It\u2019s so much different than people make it seem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=549406ca-54e6-551c-b232-a1eec578f836&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1732\" height=\"1290\" alt=\"About 200 Durango High School students and a smattering of supportive community members marched down Main Avenue on Friday during school hours to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. (Durango Herald)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">About 200 Durango High School students and a smattering of supportive community members marched down Main Avenue on Friday during school hours to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. (Durango Herald)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Tregillus said the tone of a protest is important, and that leading with curiosity and solution-based efforts \u2013 rather than confrontation \u2013 can make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>She said chants and signs that put the focus on immigrants being neighbors and friends, versus those that are meant to demean ICE or its agents, is one way she feels protesters can use their voices with intention.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the immigrants she works with are fearful that protests with tones that attack ICE agents may make conditions worse for them, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the immigrants, they would appreciate that our protests not be negative,\u201d she said. \u201cMany of them come from cultures of respect toward authority, and they\u2019re frightened. \u2026 They would rather we stick to a different tone. I talked to an immigrant (who had been detained by ICE), and he said every time there were protests outside when they were in lockdown, they were punished.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Students returned to their classes after the protest, and the demonstration remained peaceful<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-1d77aec238201bd2d2cba89b5ad6b9f5\"><a href=\"mailto:epond@durangoherald.com\">epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Skipping our lessons to teach you one,\u2019 read one sign<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1409,592,28,904,265,994,316],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-13702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-demonstration","tag-durango-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-immigration","tag-politics","tag-trueanthem","tag-video"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13702"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19449,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13702\/revisions\/19449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13702"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=13702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}