Hundreds of high school students and their supporters poured into downtown Portland Wednesday to protest the Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies.
Addressing the raucous crowd outside city hall, Waynflete junior Omari Brent urged his fellow students to continue fighting for the future they want to see.
"I know that hope remains and I see it in spaces such as this - in organization, in resistance, and in advocacy," he said. "This event was born from the collective anger of Portland students, but it was made possible by the collective excitement of our community at the thought of change occurring."
Evie Jones, a senior at Casco Bay High School, helped organize the event. She said it was meant in part to show solidarity with immigrant students, many of whom she said are afraid to come to school.
"We are standing here to make sure that students know that we are here together," she said. "To protect education and protect their rights to live and be here."
Jones said she's heartened by the strong turnout, and hopes to harness that energy in the future.
Teachers, school administrators, and local elected officials also spoke at the event, with some calling attention to a Congolese family from Portland currently in ICE detention after trying to seek asylum in Canada.
Adam Ndahiro, a junior at Deering High School, said he's good friends with Joel Andre, one of the kids in that family. Ndahiro said the news of Andre's detention hit him hard.
"I was like, in shock," Ndahiro said. "He's a good kid, a good teammate, and a really, really good person."
Other speakers called on state and local leaders, as well as school administrators, to support stronger protections for immigrant students.
