Hourly Update

More than 1,000 students take part in second day of demonstrations

Authorities are now estimating that up to 1,150 students walked out of their Tucson classrooms today, the second day in a row that groups have done so to protest a national effort to crack down on illegal immigration. The protesters gathered mainly at the federal building Downtown, but they’d dwindled to a few dozen by around 3 p.m. School buses took some students back to their campuses. At one point, police estimated, the Downtown rally had drawn up to 600 students who chanted and waved U.S. and Mexican flags. Some spoke at a microphone the county had provided them to express their views. Police monitored the crowd throughout the day, passing out water so students would stay hydrated. They said the rallies were peaceful and no arrests were made. More than 60 officers were called in today to help keep the students safe — and make sure people who called with non-priority problems were served, too. On Wednesday, those calls were put on hold while officers responded to the protests. Even detectives were in uniform Thursday, putting some investigations on hold for a day. Police said they kept traffic moving to prevent students from taking over the streets. “Our objective was is to make sure they were safe,” said Chief Richard Miranda. The students should be able to protest safely, he said. The walk-outs began before 9 a.m., when about 250 students from Catalina High Magnet School left campus. Some 225 students also left Palo Verde High Magnet School. Smaller groups also apparently walked out at Flowing Wells High School, Santa Rita High School, Rincon High School and Pueblo High School. Reports also put students from Amphitheater High School and even Marana schools at the Downtown rally. About 75 students from Valencia Middle School also walked out briefly and reports of short protests came in from Hohokam Middle School and Apollo Middle School as well. Other schools are planning forums and speeches to give students an outlet, too. Events were taking place mid-afternoon at Rincon and Apollo, authorities said. On Wednesday, nearly 800 students from Cholla, Santa Rita, Pueblo and Sunnyside high schools walked out of classes throughout the day. Thousands of other young people also have walked out in other U.S. cities the past few days to protest legislation on Capitol Hill that would crack down on the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants. Among other things, the legislation would make it a crime to be in this country illegally. Alicia Pallanes, 15, a sophomore at Catalina, who was part of today’s Downtown group, said students want to show government leaders that the proposed legislation is wrong. She said everybody should have the opportunity to better their lives. Palo Verde students expressed similar views as they walked across the city to join in the rally Downtown. They stopped midway for a brief rally at Reid Park around 11 a.m. “Since they’re working over here, they shouldn’t have to go back. Just like everyone else, they’re trying to eat,” said Victor Yates, 17, a senior from Palo Verde. Like some others, Eric Croy, a junior at Catalina, said at first he only joined in the rally to get out of class. But after listening to student speakers, he decided the issue was important. “It doesn’t just affect Mexicans, it affects everybody,” he said. In Phoenix on Tuesday, hundreds of students left school and rallied outside the Arizona Capitol. Police estimated that about 1,000 students held up traffic along several streets there as they made their way to the Capitol. There also were walk-outs in suburban schools. A Monday walkout in Los Angeles County involved an estimated 36,000 students. Tucson’s Wednesday walk-outs were relatively peaceful, although two students were cited for obstructing a public roadway. Some students also reportedly threw rocks at a vehicle outside the U.S. Border Patrol headquarters. Students at Pueblo also pulled a fire alarm and scaled a fence to leave campus. But the Sunnyside demonstration was allowed by administrators, similar to the effort at Rincon today.