Around the nation, Donald Trump’s policies are making massive impacts on many people’s daily lives. Since his re-election in 2024, Trump has pulled our country out of supranational organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNESCO, as well as imposing massive and ever-changing tariffs on other nations.
At the center of it all is ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), President Donald Trump’s homeland security force designed to deport immigrants who did not come to the US legally. While some form of ICE has always been present since its founding in 2003, no administration has utilized it to the degree Trump has. Critics say that Trump is using his presidential powers completely unconstitutionally by deploying ICE as a de-facto military force in many cities, while supporters say that ICE is restoring peace in America.
What is true is that we are seeing a massive increase in deportations across the United States, often completely without due process. Of the 68,990 people currently detained by ICE, only 25% have a criminal conviction, while almost half of all detainees are in custody for being listed as an “other immigration violator,” a definition that isn’t clear or well defined, and some think includes people who are not criminals. ICE agents will often arrest or interrogate people just based on suspicion of immigrating illegally, and after a supreme court settlement in 2025, based merely on race or language.
More recently, ICE has been rumored to have been spotted in areas of North Seattle. In late January, Aki Kurose Middle School, Cleveland STEM high, Mercer Island International Middle and multiple other schools sheltered-in-place due to reported ICE activity nearby. Mayor Katie Wilson stated that she would move to protect all citizens of Seattle from ICE and enforce rules banning Immigration enforcement to use city-owned property like parks and schools to conduct arrests.
With ICE impacting families and students in our community, Seattle has refused to stay silent. After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, multiple protests unfolded downtown. In early February, around 1,000 students walked out in the Seattle area to protest ICE’s presence in our community.
People across the state have also banded together to keep themselves and others safe from Immigrations enforcement. Websites and forums have popped up alerting others of reported ICE activity, and many people nationwide have taken to using whistles when an ICE agent is seen in order to alert others in the area. One website called WA Whistles details how and where to pick up free whistles around the Puget Sound, Vancouver, or the Tri-Cities area or how to 3D print one yourself.
“Sending more messages to our elected officials saying we don’t support ICE is the best way to protest,” says to LHS student Jackson Dardas (‘27). “If they get a large enough influx of emails from students it might prompt the government to do something.”
