Scores of students walked out of Taylor Allderdice High School early on Wednesday, protesting federal immigration efforts in the Pittsburgh region. Meanwhile, across the city line in Wilkinsburg, parents and observers kept watch as students were dismissed from two schools there: The adults were keeping an eye out for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after reported sightings in the area.
More than 200 Allderdice students joined the protest Wednesday afternoon, walking from the Squirrel Hill high school to a parking lot at the corner of Murray and Forward Avenues while chanting "abolish ICE" and other slogans using more colorful language. Some carried homemade signs urging onlookers to "fight ignorance not immigrants" and proclaiming that "immigrants make America."
"Watching what ICE is doing to all of the immigrants that are coming here legally and/or illegally, it's horrible," said student Kaelyn Bush. "It's inhumane."
Worries that ICE could target city schools ratcheted up earlier this month, after rumors spread that agents had sought access to Allderdice. Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson Ebony Pugh said those rumors were untrue, but the incident has heightened fears and impacted attendance rates, according to teachers.
Other students noted that the district has a significant number of students learning English, and said they joined the demonstration to support friends who might be at-risk for targeting by ICE.
Students "worked proactively with school leaders to ensure the demonstration remained safe and orderly," Pugh told WESA in a Wednesday email. "Pittsburgh Public Schools respects students' rights to engage in lawful, peaceful expression while prioritizing student safety and maintaining a secure learning environment."
Later that afternoon, about a dozen volunteers for immigrant-support group Frontline Dignity showed up to Kelly Elementary School and Turner Intermediate School in Wilkinsburg, standing by as parents picked up their children shortly after 3 p.m.
The observers stationed themselves around school entrances and at bus stops to watch for signs of ICE, which did not materialize.
Ashley Comans, a Wilkinsburg school board member who spoke to WESA in her role as a parent, said volunteers and residents mobilized after hearing there was an ICE presence near the school and bus stops around the time of Wednesday morning's school drop off.
" It's a moment for us today where we recognize that we need to be more vigilant and we need to come together and make sure that we're protecting our families," Comans said.
Wednesday's pick-up followed standard procedure, with school staff escorting children out of the building to meet their parents. But Comans said the routine was also different.
" There are normally parents that I see here that are not here today," she said.
Amanda Barber, who is the Wilkinsburg school board president but said she too was speaking as a parent with children in the district, said she started calling around to other parents in her network after hearing reports of ICE in the neighborhood.
" Every one of these kids is my child. All of my neighbors are my responsibility, absolutely," Barber said. "It does not matter whether they're immigrants or not. There's no difference here. So that's what we're doing right now, is trying to organize everybody to just protect their neighbors."
Comans said the reports she heard Wednesday suggested ICE was moving more aggressively in the community, but it can be hard to gauge such changes precisely. Activists say that while they too are hearing more reports of immigration enforcement activity, it's hard to be certain whether that reflects more activity or simply more awareness of and anxiety about it.
Parents hope to organize a community meeting soon to share information about ICE and what neighbors can do for each other. Barber said she hopes to have observers keep tabs on Wilkinsburg schools for at least the rest of the week.
Read more from our partners at WESA.