Around 100 Hispanic students from Marshalltown High School organized a protest march from the high school to the Marshall County Courthouse this (Wednesday) morning to draw attention to the immigration debate. The kids laughed and chattered outside, and one told a visitor they “want to have a future too,” and even those who aren’t legal citizens today would like to get that status, “for our future children.”
The march comes in the wake of Saturday’s protest in Los Angeles where half a million people protested legislation that would make criminals out of illegal immigrants. The kids say they weren’t just looking for attention, but say they just want everybody to know “that we all want to be equal, and it’s not a crime to work.” The full Senate today (Wednesday) has been debating a measure giving illegal immigrants an opportunity for citizenship.
Marshalltown School District Superintendent Doctor Harrison Cass says no disciplinary action will be taken against the students today. “This is a one-time thing,” the Superintendent says, and though students were counted absent, there was no disciplinary action taken for their protest march. He says he doesn’t want to see it “become a continuous pattern, and so we need to have discussions with the students, if this were to continue.”