North Carolina Latino Students Skipping School to Avoid ICE Agents
Rodrigo Hernandez, whose family is originally from Guatemala, attends a vigil with his family to protest against the deportation of undocumented immigrants on January 6, 2016 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo : Joe Raedle/Getty Images )
Confused and frightened Latino students in North Carolina have started skipping school in hopes of avoiding roving immigration agents.
The deportation of Riverside High School senior Wilden Guillen-Acosta has left many of his classmates paralyzed with fear and several of his teachers worried about the general welfare of their students, ABC 11 reports.
Soon after the new year, 19-year-old Guillen-Acosta was taken into custody near his home by Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents and now is in the process of being deported to his native Honduras.
Fears Only Worsening
In the wake of the incident and the chaos it has created within Riverside's walls, the Durham School Board quickly passed a resolution condemning ICE's actions. The board argues that responsible students like Guillen-Acosta should be off-limits from growing deportation raids and free to pursue their education.
As well-intended as the gesture may have been, the measure has not been enough to allay the fears of students who feel targeted. ACLU North Carolina policy council representative Susanna Birdsong doesn't see that changing anytime soon.
"One Spanish teacher shared she recently had eight of her 23 students absent from class," she told Latin Post. "Absent a stop to the raids altogether and assurances from ICE that such sensitive locations will remain safe for them, I don't see anything calming their fears."
According to Birdsong, even students who are not undocumented themselves are reacting to the situation with fear.
"Some of them are staying away from school and remaining at home because they have family members or friends who are undocumented and they fear returning home to find loved ones gone, taken away by agents," she added.
Guillen-Acosta's parents insist their son escaped to the U.S. to avoid the deadly gang violence that now grips his homeland. They fear he will be killed if forced to return.
Still, WRAL reports Hector Guillen was forced to look on in stunned silence as his son was taken away, paralyzed by the thought his other children might also be apprehended if he overly reacted in any way. The grief-stricken family is now keeping all of their other children at home and not allowing them to attend school for fear of another incident.
American Progress Managing Director Philip Wolgin explained attendance at some local schools could be down by as much as 20 percent since Guillen-Acosta was taken into custody.
"It's not just that," he told Latin Post. "There are reports of people not showing up for health clinic related services and other appointments that have to do with social services. Right now, there is just so much fear people are afraid to leave their homes for anything North Carolina Latino Students Skipping School to Avoid ICE Agents : US News : Latin Post: