Student protesters, some carrying Mexican flags, gather Friday in front of the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard. The high school and middle school students skipped class to protest immigration reform proposals that Congress is considering. Dozens of students said they would take part in another protest today. Photo by Clint Karlsen.
Palo Verde High School freshman Marcela Cuevara, 14, wears a painted Mexican flag on her cheek as she takes part in a student protest Friday in front of the federal courthouse. Photo by Clint Karlsen.
Student protesters, some with Mexican or American flags, march Friday toward the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse. About 2,800 people took part in the protest. Photo by Clint Karlsen.
School District Superintendent Walt Rulffes appears at a Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board meeting Friday to discuss students skipping school to protest immigration reform. Rulffes said he was upset by the two student walkouts this week. Photo by Jeff Scheid.
A Las Vegas police officer arrests a protester as he pushes another protester away Friday. Police said that overall, the student protesters were well-behaved and peaceful. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Rallying cries of "Viva Mexico" resonated throughout the streets of downtown Las Vegas on Friday as thousands of students ditched classes and participated in the second major school walkout within a week to show immigration reform advocates that Hispanics are here to stay.
An estimated 2,800 people, most of whom were high school and middle school students, spent most of the school day walking and protesting. They toted Mexican and American flags, beat on drums and carried signs, one of which read, "Not Criminals, But Just Undocumented."
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Everywhere they went, the students drew a heavy police presence. They often slowed traffic. Many drivers honked their horns in support.
"I'm here to support Mexicans and all Latinos," said Kim Lopez, a freshman at Palo Verde High School. "We're here to stay, and nobody is going to make us leave."
"In some way or another, we're all immigrants," said Stephanie Vera, a sophomore at Eldorado High School. "This nation was made of immigrants."
At the heart of the protest was immigration legislation moving through Congress that would make illegal immigrants guilty of a felony for living in the United States. The House passed the legislation in December. The Senate is expected next week to approve a toned-down immigration reform bill.
Friday's protest won't be the last.
Dozens of students said they would participate in a protest today beginning at 9 a.m. at Rancho High School. They intend to march to Las Vegas City Hall.
The student march will be countered by a downtown demonstration organized by the leader of the White People's Party, Michael O'Sullivan.
"White people are upset with Mexicans marching and carrying Mexican flags," O'Sullivan said Friday. "Instead of carrying Mexican flags and screaming for the rights of people who came into this country illegally, we'll be carrying American flags."
O'Sullivan said he expects at least 50 people at his demonstration, which will start at 1 p.m. outside the federal courthouse. He said his group will not confront the students and will be peaceful.
Other groups apparently plan to march downtown at the same time. In an anonymous fax sent to the Review-Journal, the "white power groups" said they would march this morning to Fourth Street and Bridger Avenue, four blocks from the student demonstration. No additional information could be obtained about the groups or their plans.
Students who marched Friday ignored the pleas of Clark County School District officials, who, during an impromptu news conference Thursday, called on parents to prevent their children from joining the demonstrations.
According to district officials, students who took part in the march came from at least 19 schools, including nine middle schools. Clark High School had the largest contingent with about 500 participants.
Schools Superintendent Walt Rulffes said Friday that students who took part in the protests aren't interested in performing well academically. He said he was annoyed that demonstrations took place during the week when high school students were taking the state's proficiency exam, which must be passed for students to earn a diploma.
"I can't find any excuse for this behavior," Rulffes said.
On Tuesday, about 1,000 students from at least six area schools took part in protests. Those students, and those who protested Friday, were given unexcused absences. Students with 10 unexcused absences in a semester can be denied credit for their classes. Rulffes said students who participated in protests would not be allowed to return to class until their parents were notified.
Las Vegas police said protesters were well behaved. One juvenile was arrested Friday for possessing a gun, but no shots were fired.
"Overall, the kids have been very cooperative with law enforcement and very peaceful," police officer Bill Cassell said.
Cassell said 130 Las Vegas police officers monitored the protest Friday. About 40 school district officers joined them.
Some high school students began their trek from their campuses at 7 a.m. and were greeted by a larger group heading downtown about two hours later. Students gathered at Las Vegas City Hall, then the Clark County Regional Justice Center and the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse. They eventually walked northeast and ended their trek at Freedom Park.
Some students rebuffed the notion that they were hurting their cause because they were protesting during school hours.
"We've got to stand up and take charge," said Christian Ramirez, a junior at Rancho High School. "This is a revolution."
The high school students were joined by some students from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Christina Morales, a sociology professor at UNLV, said students were taking part in an educational lesson of their own by marching Friday.
"They're bringing attention to this because they are out of school," she said of the teenage students. "It's a shame that's what they have to resort to."
At Freedom Park, students gathered and continued to chant pro-Hispanic slogans. They remained at the park for several hours. But unlike what happened Tuesday, district officials did not bus students back to school from the final stop of the protest.
"We're not sending buses to help kids be truant," Rulffes said. He said buses were dispatched Tuesday at the request of school district and Las Vegas police.
Several Hispanic parents at Freedom Park said they supported their children being out of school and participating in the march.
Gerardo Iniguez was one of those parents. He walked with his daughter, Dezerie, a 10th-grader at Mojave High School.
"This is for the Latino community," he said. "It's a cause to be proud of."
"My mom supports me," said Jessica Padron, a seventh-grader at Martin Middle School. "If I didn't do this, I'd get in trouble."
But not all parents would have supported their children if they had participated in Friday's walkout.
Kelly Edmiston, a mother of a 10-year-old girl who attends Neal Elementary School, said that if her daughter had skipped school for the march, "she would be grounded for an extensive period of time."
She criticized school administrators and parents for not being tough enough on student protesters.
"I'm very disappointed that they (students) are being allowed to behave like this," Edmiston said. "They should all be suspended, and the parents should have to pay for buses to pick the students up."
Recent high school graduate Juan Lazaro, 18, said he was astonished by the display of unity put on by the Hispanic community.
Lazaro, who was draped in a Puerto Rican flag at the park, said he is an American of half Puerto Rican and half Mexican descent.
"I was born in Chicago, but everything about me is Latino," he said. "It's heart- warming to see all these people come together. It doesn't matter where you're from, it's about Latino pride."
Review-Journal writers Lawrence Mower, Lisa Kim Bach, K.C. Howard, Lynnette Curtis and Brian Haynes contributed to this report.
