Along with hundreds of high school students from across the city and county of Los Angeles, 13-year-old Melanie Cruz and Estela Romero left their school on Wednesday, February 4, to participate in a march and protest demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leave.

“I decided to come today to fight for all the lives that ICE has taken and the children it has separated from their families. ICE needs to understand that it is not right, and we are going to fight for our community to stop these raids,” said Melanie, who, along with Estela, is in eighth grade at a middle school in the Eagle Rock neighborhood, whose name they preferred not to disclose.

Estela said that everyone in her family immigrated from Mexico to the United States, and both they and their grandparents are afraid to go out on the street.

“It makes me angry that they are afraid to do normal things.

“So I came here because I want to fight for my family, my grandparents, and my culture," Estela said. Both students showed great maturity for their age. They were perhaps among the youngest participants in the demonstration around the city's main square, which brought together students from the Los Angeles Unified School District. Middle and high school students marched from City Hall to the federal building to protest the aggressive immigration raids that have resulted in the arrest of hundreds of immigrants and the deaths of two US citizens in Minneapolis: Renee Good and nurse Alex Pretti. Good was killed by an ICE agent on January 7, and Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse, was shot by Border Patrol agents on January 24. According to a Department of Homeland Security report, more than 10,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested in the Los Angeles area between June and December 2025. Melanie confessed to feeling frustrated and sad, saying that before Trump, Los Angeles used to be a beautiful and peaceful city “This violence destroys our peace; it feels like a war, like a war against everything,” she said.And it's terrible to see people dying fighting for their lives.”

She revealed that her grandparents are immigrants and are also afraid.

“I can't allow my family to live like this,that's why I'm here to fight today.”

The two young girls, holding small Mexican flags, raised their voices to shout curses against ICE: “Fuck you! Fuck you!”

“We're in middle school. It's not right that, being so young, we're witnessing all this. It's just horrible, people are dying. They're killing innocent people who are trying to defend themselves. We're holding peaceful protests, and their response is aggressive.”

Melanie chimed in to say: “It's crazy, and children, for example, can't even go to school for fear of being separated from their parents. And it hurts me so much to see this happening, even though I'm not related to anyone it's happened to.” “It hurts!”.

The mobilization began after 10 am, when young students took advantage of recess to leave classes and go out to protest.

As they marched, they chanted slogans such as “What do we want?” ICE out and No Justice no peace.

There weren't just students from Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, but also from Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High School, Garfield High School, Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet, and even high school students from Koreatown, Eagle Rock, Pico Union, and even Compton.

“The walkout is student-led, peaceful, and based on protecting our right to education and our communities. We acted with unity, strategy, and intention for our families and our future,” the organizers wrote on Instagram @LA School Walkout.

A group of five Latino students, ages 14 to 16, who preferred not to give their names but revealed they came from a high school in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, said they marched in anger because ICE is separating families.

“They are taking away fathers, mothers, and separating them from their children. That is very “Bad!” said one of the boys. Another young man said that President Trump doesn't care about people, and does whatever he wants not only here but all over the world. The teenagers agreed that they felt great about having taken to the streets to protest the immigration raids. What message do they want to send to President Trump and his administration? “Fuck ICE, fuck them and get out of the United States!” the five boys shouted almost in unison. A 16-year-old senior high school student, the daughter of immigrant parents, The student, who asked not to be identified, said she was encouraged to protest for those who cannot. "A lot of things are happening, like indiscriminate shootings. I feel very moved because it's very sad. We're just trying to protest so these stops, but we can't do much more than protest." She added, “They're just killing human beings for no reason.” She asked President Trump to stop his ruthless operations. "How would he feel if he were in our place? We're all human, we're not aliens. We all have feelings.It's a terrible situation. “They're killing us for no reason.” She commented that they had their teachers' approval to go out and protest, and they didn't receive any warnings that they would be suspended or face any other action. This student said it was the third time they had protested since the raids began in Los Angeles. “After all.” “We pay our taxes, why are they going against us? We've helped a lot. “Probably half of these buildings around us downtown were built by immigrants.” Two young women and a young man, who did not want to be identified, marched together and said they joined the student mobilization because they believe the separation of families is unjust. “It's really awful what we're seeing every day. Even those who were born here are suffering,” she said to a 17-year-old boy. A 16-year-old student commented that she participated on behalf of those who are afraid to leave. “We're just asking them to give us the opportunity to live the American dream,” she said. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old student said that ICE is simply detaining anyone who looks Mexican or of any other ethnicity that isn't white.

“Our mobilization today helps the cause because schools are losing students; and they should try to help and advocate for ICE to stop, since their students are leaving. support the students' right to protest.

However, he cautioned that the safest place for students is school.