Smithfield-Selma students walk out to protest immigration bills
Associated Press
SMITHFIELD, N.C. - Nearly three dozen students at Smithfield-Selma High School joined in the nationwide protest of immigration bills being debated in Congress this week.
The students, mostly Hispanic, walked out of classes around 11 a.m., despite warnings from administrators that they risked suspension for skipping school.
Their focus is on House Bill 4437, passed by the House of Representatives last December. The bill would make being in the U.S. illegally a felony and calls for building two-layer fences along 700 miles of the Mexican/American border.
While some passers-by honked their car horns in support, others shouted "Go back to Mexico."
Hundreds of students from Desert Hot Springs, Indio and Palm Desert skipped school and left classes this morning to protest for a third day immigration legislation lawmakers are debating in Washington.
It all began before 8 a.m. today, when students from Indio High School marched from the school to the Larson Justice Center and then to the Civic Center, protesting against HR4437, a House immigration bill that would make helping illegal immigrants a crime and build a miles-long fence along the California/Mexico border.