Turlock High School students participated in a nationwide walk out that protested against ICE (U.S Immigrations and Customs Enforcement), standing in solidarity with the Minneapolis people, including those who have lost their lives.
Students at Turlock High School protested by attending a walk-out from Crane Park to Central Park, led by Turlock Youth Activists.
The walk out had a turnout of about 300 people, including Pitman High School students and Stan State students, all showing their support by making posters and chanting for change. The students walked out at the lunch bell, towards Crane park with adult volunteers guiding them.
Jennavieve Jewell (Junior, Founder of Turlock Youth Activists) organized the event that took place and led the protesters through the streets of Turlock with the help of her mother.
“It was really emotional for me to see kids from Turlock and from Pitman, and I know there’s kids in Modesto who walked out, and to see that and to know that I am not alone in what I think and it’s not just a ‘me’ thing, it’s a community of everybody who believes the same thing that ‘this is not right,” Jewell said.
Students from Pitman Highschool and CSU Stanislaus also showed up to the protest, helping out by handing out food, water and making posters.
“What the administration is doing is not right and it just fills my heart with joy that there are people in this area, in this community, that think the same way,” she said.
According to Jewell, a school official talked to them to prevent them from leaving campus.
“We thought about what he said, but in the end, it is our right to speak up and it is our right to protest and that is the first amendment,” she said. “They tried telling us that we don’t have the same rights that we do off campus and they sent emails out to parents saying there was a walkout happening today and to tell their students to not go and stay inside of class.”
The school continued to say that if the students went out to protest that it would be marked as an unexcused absence.
“There was a gentleman who came up to me and was like ‘you guys are the future, you guys are doing the right thing’ and it really warmed my heart that so many parents and adults are here to support us,” she said.
Jessica Manriquez-Jewell (attorney and parent of Jennavieve Jewell) was one of the adults supervising the protestors.
Manriquez-Jewell said that she’s disappointed with how the school responded, and thinks the students did an incredible thing.
“As a parent, I am pretty disappointed with the initial reaction from the school. They pulled my child out of school, they confronted her during lunch to put some pressure on canceling this. I think it was an inappropriate move by the school,” Manriquez-Jewell said. “As a lawyer, I know her rights, she knows her rights but it’s just unfortunate not all students know that all the time and so I think that’s another incredible thing that the students did.”
She continued to say that she’s glad that they were able to exercise their first amendment rights in a safe and productive way, especially with the community’s support. She displayed support for her daughter who helped organize the protest, and made sure the protestors stayed safe during the walk out.
“Just watching the leadership of these students shine today has been really incredible and emotional. I’m just proud of them for speaking up, for showing leadership for organizing themselves,” Manriquez-Jewell said.
Jewell continued to exercise their rights despite the school’s attempt to cancel the walkout.
“She’s honestly my inspiration. Ever since she was young she had a strong moral compass and strong opinions about right and wrong and isn’t afraid to speak her mind and so I think that’s exactly what the youth needs,” Manriquez-Jewell said about her daughter.
During the walk out, people stood outside of restaurants, homes, and shops, cheering with the protestors to show support. Many people honked their horns and gave a thumbs up as they drove by the crowd of hundreds of people.
However, many people booed and gave a thumbs down as they walked or drove by. One man parked on the opposite street of the protestors and shouted “losers” and other remarks to the protestors.
Two unknown counter protestors walked at the very back of the crowd with posters that said “Stand with ICE” and “I [heart] I.C.E”. The two counter protestors were reportedly there for a small portion of the protest and stayed in the back.
Eli Coleman, a part of the Central Valley Brown Berets, displayed frustration with the current events. Stating that people have peacefully protested for years since the civil rights movement, and that “asking nicely for change,” hasn’t changed anything since people still protest for equal rights.
Christian, a Turlock local and alumni of Turlock High, attended the protest in solidarity of the people in Turlock.
“It is to protest ICE and the violence going on. For example, that nurse that got shot, it’s really heartbreaking,” he said. “I think that ICE can go about doing their job without the violence.”
Angel, (Junior at Turlock High School) a student who walked out for the protest explains why he found it important to come out and protest.
“A lot of my people have been attacked by ICE since Trump has came into the administration. It’s really affected a lot of our people, especially in California and America as a whole,” Angel said.
Cueponcaxochitl Moreno Sandoval (Associate Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Stan State) and Pedro Ramirez Hernandez (nonprofit of Valley Clean Air) both attended the protest and preformed live-music.
“We are playing what is known as Son Jaracho, it’s a music that originates from the southern parts of Mexico,” Hernandez said.
The practice originates from Veracruz, where African, Indigenous and Spanish cultures blend together.
“They are the sounds of the Earth, and so by integrating into our ancestral roots, we can choose to heal ourselves, we can heal as a community and also build a better world,” Hernandez said. “At the end of the day it is this kaleidoscope of different influences that allows us to kind of look back to ourselves, who we are, where we come from, and kind of iterate on that,” he said.
Sandoval talks more about Son Jaracho and its roots.
“It’s a music of resistance, and of focusing on radical joy in the face of disdain is part of the revolution, it’s been part of the revolution for many, many, years, many movements across time. And this isn’t a revolution we’re going to fight with arms and violence,” she said.
Hernandez believes that the violence linked to ICE have not been accidents, but the intent of the agency, and that it should be abolished.
“And at the end of the day this is indigenous land so there are indigenous descendants here and they understand that,” he said.
Sandoval also acknowledges that this is Native land, and that the narrative that people are immigrants is incorrect, because “the border crossed us.”
“We have been crossing these lands for time and memorial. We have ancient trading route systems. And so to place a border there has been causing a lot of distress to so many people and families,” she said.
She discussed why it is important to her to support students.
“We want to support students who want to stand with their families and keep families together and acknowledge that the people who are hard working here, contribute to the economy as much as everybody else. And so we want to abolish ICE,” she said.
She says that the cycle of fear must stop, and that it’s been happening for a very long time.
“This is a revolution that we’re going to fight with giving ourselves that healing opportunity to keep our families together,” she said. “No se dejen, we can maintain our unity strong and we can build and move mountains.”
Contributors to this article: Tuesday Mendez, Jason Schlenker and Kaihli Miner-Hill.
Updated: Thursday Mar 12. for clarity
Damian • Feb 3, 2026 at 5:24 pm
melt ice ✍️