Students across Maine participated in the national strike against immigration enforcement today by staying home, walking out of school and protesting.
Dozens of Lewiston High School students walked out and were joined by community members as they marched downtown to Kennedy Park.
Organizer Perola Meli said she was nervous about coming to the protest because immigration enforcement knocked on her door Thursday night.
"I, like, saw that they kept knocking, and I just, like, didn't, like, open the door, like I closed all the lights, and then he eventually just ended up leaving," said Meli.
Meli said that though she was nervous she wanted to turn out and protest for everyone who couldn't be there.
Lewiston is the only predominantly nonwhite high school in the state, according to Principal Jonathan Radtke.
Organizer Fatimah Alzamili, said the students reached out to the police, Bates students and community organizations for support because safety was their main priority.
"A lot of people were actually did not come because they were scared the ICE was going to be here. So we wanted to make sure that we could ensure safety as much as we could," Alzamili said.
Lewiston police stood by along the route to Kennedy Park.
Students in Portland, Scarborough and Yarmouth also joined the strike by skipping school and attending the protest in downtown Portland.
