Student and employee walkouts took place across the Bay Area on Friday, part of a national wave of protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the deaths of two people this month at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
High school and college students in Oakland, Berkeley, Concord, San Jose and San Mateo all planned to walk away from their classes Friday, according to posts on social media. They were among scores of similar protests being held in nearly every state across the nation, partly organized by a website that called for a “national shutdown” to end ICE funding and a stop to the agency’s “terror” campaign.
Alejandra Argueta — a 17-year-old senior at El Camino High School who was among the students who joined a protest in South San Francisco — said she felt compelled to participate because staying silent was not an option.
“Just because it’s not happening to you doesn’t mean you’re supposed to sit back and watch everything unfold,” she said, adding that while the Bay Area may feel more insulated than other parts of the country, she said “it’s only a matter of time until things get worse.”
The walkouts follow a similar wave of school and work stoppages a week ago in Minneapolis, where President Donald Trump dispatched thousands of federal immigration agents in one of the largest immigration crackdowns of his year-old second term. The subsequent deaths of two people — Minneapolis mother Renee Good and ICU nurse Alex Pretti — at the hands of federal agents this month has led to renewed protests against Trump’s immigration policies, recently prompting the Department of Homeland Security to begin moving some agents out of the region.
Already this week, hundreds of students walked out of classes in the East Bay and the South Bay in protest of ICE’s actions.
On Friday, hundreds of students marched through the streets of Castro Valley, eliciting honks from passing motorists, holding up traffic in some areas and holding signs proclaiming “Jesus said: Love thy neighbor” and “Beat fascism,” according to a livestream provided by Castro Valley News.
Across the bay in the Peninsula, hundreds of students walked through downtown San Mateo around noon, rallying in San Mateo Central Park.
The Moment Japantown store in San Jose announced that it would be closed, saying “we refuse to operate ‘business as usual.’” Elsewhere in the region, business owners did the same thing – some by closing down, others by some of their proceeds to immigration-support organizations.
“This is a collective decision made by our Edo team to joining the economic blackout against ICE and federal immigration enforcement actions,” the owners of Edo’s Salon on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland wrote on social media while announcing their decision to close for a day.
“We believe that the work we do – caring for people – cannot stop at the salon chair,” the salon’s statement continued. “It feels impossible to conduct business as usual while members of our community are being denied basic human dignity. For us, there is no true beauty without humanity.”
All Touchstone Climbing gyms in California also were closed, including multiple locations in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and single locations in San Jose and Concord. Their owners decided to pay their hourly employees during the walkout.
“We stand with the people of Minneapolis and with our employees,” a statement from the company read. “We are closing as part of the national general strike in opposition to ICE and the violence, fear, and harm they continue to inflict on immigrant communities and those who stand with them. While the gyms are closed, all hourly employees who were scheduled to work will be paid. We did not make this decision lightly, but we no longer feel it is acceptable to remain silent in the face of these actions.”
Other businesses, including Academic Coffee in San Jose, stayed open but donated some or all of their proceeds to nonprofit organizations supporting immigrant communities. The San Jose Museum of Art offered free admission “to provide our community a space for reflection, healing and connection.”
Kylan Denny, an international relations major at Stanford University graduating next year, attended the walkout at White Plaza known as the free speech zone at her university, out of frustration with what she described as the systematic targeting of marginalized communities across the country.
“For me, this isn’t a single tragedy — it’s one of many,” Denny said. “There are so many people who haven’t had strikes called in their name or people walk out for them.”
Denny said recognizing those overlooked stories is what motivates her to protest.
“Everyone is implicated and everyone is affected whether we like it or not,” she said. “There is a story out there of someone you can personally relate to, and for me, that’s enough to get me out here.”
At Athenian High in Danville, a private institution that does not have a religious affiliation and is multi-cultural, at least two dozen students marched to Blackhawk Plaza, holding signs. They met up with high school students in Danville and they demonstrated at an intersection of Blackhawk Road.
Athenian humanities teacher Stephanie McGraw said the spirit of the school embodies that of the American idea, that many cultures can come together and create peace through common ideas.
“I’m proud they’re doing something to be heard and to let people know where they stand,” McGraw said. “They’re standing up for their voice.”
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Check back for updates to this developing story.
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