Like clockwork, at 2 p.m. on Jan. 29, students filed out of classrooms and walked outside of the school doors, united with the same resolve: Get ICE out of Omaha.
“There were more than 110 of us. We were there to scream out,” sophomore Merhna Iohp said.
Despite the 20-degree weather, students wrapped up in winter coats and held up handmade signs, joining a growing national movement of young people protesting federal immigration enforcement.
Junior Zoa Van Ornam, who was a leading figure behind the protest, explained what motivated her.
“Humanity still exists within us. I did it to hopefully change perspectives. Big changes take more time and bigger resources, and someday I have no doubt plenty of students will fulfill that role,” Van Ornam said.
This was one of the largest walkouts in school history, with the last walkout being an effort to support and protest LGBTQIA+ rights in February of 2023. While the trend in walk-outs is few and far between, just nine days before this walkout, four Omaha public schools had staged a protest, speaking out against ICE activity in Omaha and near their high schools.
This event was not a “sporadic” teenager protest, but rather a broader movement of youth from across the Omaha area against immigration enforcement.
Teachers taught like it was a normal day, yet like clockwork at exactly 2 p.m., students stood up and left unexcused, without permission.
“I walked out of the room and at first I was waiting at the library for my friends, then I saw at least 20 other students coming from each side of the hallway,” sophomore Braxton Nattrass. said.
“It was insane. I had no idea how many people were going to show up. To watch so many people get together like this was surreal to experience,” Nattrass said.
Even in the face of being marked absent and not being allowed to re-enter the school after leaving, students stood resilient. And some stood out as leaders. One of those leaders was Van Ornam, quietly telling students where to walk and making sure everyone crossed roads safely.
Van Ornam explained the reason she emphasized safety was to change perspectives.
“It was very important to me that the message that we were spreading was not going to be affiliated with people making bad choices, or risky ones. Also, safety was my number 1 priority for myself and everyone around me at all times. Omaha’s youth do care about the current events right now, and we want to clearly and effectively spread a positive message,” Van Ornam said.
Outside the school, students ripped open notebooks, writing papers with messages including “Abolish ICE” and “No one’s illegal on stolen land.”
Senior Jack Tellinghuisen said he heard about the walkout just an hour before from a friend before leaving his class. “There were a lot of kids I normally wouldn’t hang around with, but we all came together under a unitary idea,” he said.
“The energy was really positive, and having everybody there with that attitude made the atmosphere fun,” Tellinghuisen said.
The group of over 100 students soon paraded up to 144th and Q, as the security guards made it increasingly clear that they weren’t welcome to stay near the doors.
Sophomore Merhna Iohp said, “We walked all the way down to the megamart, and we originally planned to walk back and protest in front of the school, but we ended up deciding to stay on the street.”
“There were many bystanders just watching, and cars honking at us, even some cars stopped and joined us in the march,” Iohp said.
To many students, the walkout symbolized something more than just a moment of defiance for Immigrant Enforcement, but a glimpse of the growing power that youth voices held.
Junior Mars Gamble said, “Politics involves every single person’s life. You’re never too young to get involved with them, especially when some policies and actions have gone on to target children and families. I work with kids, and it’s very scary to imagine them being targeted in that way.”
