On Friday, January 30, there will be a national shutdown operating under the slogan, “No work. No school. No shopping. Stop funding ICE.” This call to action is in response to the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which utilized a violent approach to immigration enforcement, resulting in the death of at least four individuals. On January 7, Renée Good was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Only a few weeks later, on January 24, Alex Pretti was also killed by ICE enforcement. A wave of public protests and a call for change ensued. The call for a national shutdown began in Minnesota, where people wanted to protest against ICE’s actions. According to the national shutdown’s official website, nationalshutdown.org, the goal is to “stand up together in a nationwide shutdown and say enough is enough!”
This call has now reached the Bay Area. The first local students to plan walkouts were from Aragon High School, San Mateo High School, and Burlingame High School. More students from additional schools have since joined in, including Sequoia High School, Menlo Atherton High School, Woodside High School, and Menlo. Students plan to walk out and meet in front of the Redwood City courthouse to protest the actions of ICE.
Sacred Heart students will be joining the national shutdown. According to Sloane Smith ‘27, “We were planning a separate protest” on February 12th “and realized the importance of also standing with everyone around us. Last night, a group of students got together and realized that we want to do both.”
Sacred Heart students will be participating in two groups. The first will be missing all classes and marching with students from Menlo Atherton High School. The second group of around twenty or more students, according to Smith’s estimates, will meet in the middle of the Quad and then leave campus to protest in Redwood City alongside student protestors from Sequoia, Menlo Atherton, Woodside, and other local schools.
According to Smith, Sacred Heart’s administrative leadership has clearly emphasized how much student “safety… and [students’] human dignity matters to them.” Principal Dr. Jennie Whitcomb sent an email to faculty on January 29th about the national shutdown, stating, “I support students following their conscience and acting in ways that are consistent with Goal III,” referencing the Sacred Heart philosophy: “Social awareness which impels to action.”
She framed the email around Catholic Social Justice Teaching and noted that Catholic leaders have responded to issues of immigration, specifically referencing a January 28th letter of Catholic leaders to Congress. This letter urged “senators not to advance funding for immigration and customs enforcement and customs and border protection in the current appropriations practice.” Whitcomb said that the letter, a “collective advocacy offers a powerful voice and moral clarity that is both timely for this concerning situation and vital to a greater national conversation that extends well beyond this moment.”
Describing why she chose to participate in the walkout, Smith stated, “At Sacred Heart, we are in a bubble and are surrounded by immense privilege at any given point in time.” She described it as “an opportunity to stand up for not only themselves, but for others, for the people around them and for their communities” as well as to “educate the community around them.” Smith said, “I think especially people at Sacred Heart don’t realize how close it is to us and how there are people at our school that have been affected by this since the day they were born.” Calling for both empathy and the importance of visibility, Smith reflects, “You’ve seen how it’s affected us, and now that you feel like you can do something about it, people don’t want to pass up that opportunity.”
This is an ongoing story.
