IMMIGRATION UPRISING? Hundreds RALLY at School!
Hundreds of students at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland walked out on June 12, 2025, to protest the deportation of a junior classmate and call for immigrant protections.
At a Glance
The walkout involved hundreds of students marching around the school’s bus loop during lunch in support of a deported junior.
The protest was organized by the Blair chapter of Students FAIR to oppose ICE actions and signal that immigration enforcement isn’t welcome in their community.
Baltimore County Public Schools affirmed students’ constitutional right to peaceful protest under school policy.
Approximately 38 % of Blair’s 3,200 students are Hispanic/Latino, underscoring its diverse population.
Dozens of community members joined, holding signs like “Don’t deport my neighbors” outside school grounds.
Why Students Walked Out
Montgomery Blair students staged their demonstration after a junior was deported to Guatemala—though administrators confirmed the student wasn’t detained on school grounds and refrained from naming them due to privacy concerns, according to The Washington Post.
They gathered at the bus loop, marched through parking areas, and demanded justice, organizers said. A student leader stated they aimed to make “a very clear message that ICE is not welcome in our community,” as reported by the same source.
The walkout aligns with a wave of youth-led immigration protests nationwide, including one at Milford High School for a student detained en route to practice, illustrating a growing youth backlash to federal immigration policies.
Impact and Community Response
Montgomery County Public Schools supported the students’ right to peacefully protest, issuing a letter to families and deploying police to ensure safety, per The Washington Post.
The protest deeply affected students like 17-year-old Kyara Romero Lira, a junior with Blair’s Students FAIR group, who said the deportation struck “so much more real” when it happened within their own school community.
That sense of urgency resonates across the county’s diverse student body—Blair is 38 % Hispanic/Latino, 24 % Black, 22 % White, and 10 % Asian—highlighting how federal immigration actions reverberate locally.
This student-led protest at one of Maryland’s largest high schools signals a rising wave of youthful political engagement and coastal resistance to immigration enforcement policies. Authorities are watching closely to see if such demonstrations will influence broader policy discussions.