About 20 Belen Middle School Students Protest ICE at Main Street Corner

About 20 students from Belen Middle School left class and gathered on the southeast corner of Reinken Avenue and Main Street to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The students chanted, “No ICE in Belen!” and said they expected to face school discipline when they returned.

Twelve-year-old Amelia Davis told reporters, “We’ve all seen it. We know what they do,” and added, “There are bigger things in life than maybe getting suspended.” News‑Bulletin reporting and an original account indicate the students left campus during class time and understood they could be disciplined for doing so.

Belen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Lawrence Sanchez characterized the action as students who “ditched” class, and said the district has “flexibility in the district’s policy,” with repercussions “ranging from lunch detention to out-of-school suspension.” Interim Belen Police Chief Adam Keck said two officers were present that day, one parked in the empty lot and another parked across the street, and that officers “did it for the safety of the children,” a comment he made after a Monday meeting. No arrests or charges related to the Belen gathering have been reported in the local accounts.

On the street the young protesters received “lots of thumbs up, nods and honking of horns” from passing drivers, though one man in a pickup truck “did flip off the group as he passed,” according to the local reporting. A photograph of the protest was credited to Julia M. Dendinger | News‑Bulletin photo.

Locally, the protest matters because it brings tensions over immigration enforcement into schoolyards and neighborhoods. When students leave class to take public political stands, school officials balance attendance policy and discipline with the community’s need for safety and for school to be a place where immigrant families can access services without fear. The Instagram excerpt circulating about the wave of protests included the line, “… student-organized walkout to protest federal ICE immigration enforcement activity. School and district administrators were on hand to help.” That caption has not been verified as describing the Belen event and may refer to other walkouts elsewhere.

The Belen action was part of a larger pattern: the coverage notes the gathering “joined hundreds of anti‑ICE … protests held nationwide Friday, Jan. 30.” Reporting from Los Angeles provides contrast: there, student organizers compiled demands including “providing more resources for immigrant students and training for students and staff on how to interact with federal agents,” and one Los Angeles protest was followed by arrests and reports of vandalism, illustrating a range of outcomes when student activism meets policing and city response.

For Valencia County residents, the episode highlights competing priorities: safeguarding students, maintaining classroom attendance, and addressing the fears of immigrant families that ripple into mental health, school participation, and public trust in institutions. Key questions remain unanswered locally, whether any specific disciplinary actions have been imposed, whether school administrators were present to support students at the scene, and the full timeline of events, and those answers will shape how the district responds and how families and community health and legal resources prepare going forward.