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Students staged peaceful Feb. 9 walkouts over immigration enforcement; board praised safety response
Summary
Student board member Leslie Aguilar Hernandez told the Palm Springs Unified Board that students across the district marched Feb. 9 to protest immigration enforcement; the board praised the peaceful protest and district security for keeping students safe.
Students from several Palm Springs Unified high schools staged a peaceful walkout on Feb. 9 to protest the presence of immigration enforcement in the valley, student board member Leslie Aguilar Hernandez told the board at its Feb. 10 meeting. "We are not criminals. We are dreamers," she said, describing the demonstrations as nonviolent and organized by high school students across the district.
Why it matters: The walkout raised questions about student safety, free-speech rights on campus and how the district and local law enforcement coordinated during the event. Leslie said students exercised their First Amendment rights and thanked school security staff by name for protecting participants.
Leslie said the protests were peaceful and that students created signs and messages to express frustration with national immigration policy and local enforcement actions. "To exercise their first amendment rights, including freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble," she said, adding that "students were never violent and maintained a positive environment throughout the event." She also criticized media portrayals of the protesters as violent, saying those characterizations were inaccurate.
Board members and administrators publicly commended the students' conduct and the district security team. Board president Karen Cornett highlighted the "peaceful demonstration" and praised staff who supervised the events, noting cooperation with local police and fire departments. Superintendent and other administrators also thanked security personnel and school-site teams for their role in keeping students safe.
There was no formal board action tied to the walkouts at the meeting; board members used the meeting as an opportunity to acknowledge student voice, reiterate the district's expectations for campus safety, and recognize staff who supported supervision. The district did not announce any disciplinary changes or new enforcement policies as a result of the walkouts during the Feb. 10 meeting.
