Hispanic Students Step Into the Spotlight

Teen Activists Could Grow to Exercise Political Influence, Some Observers Say

Cesar DeLeon of Washington-Lee High School holds the Guatemalan flag while classmates Sergio Pena, left, and Carmen Alvarenga embrace. (By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)

Hispanic activists and politicians say student protests in the Washington suburbs last week portend an increase in activism in the coming years.

As more U.S.-born Hispanic teenagers turn 18 and can register to vote, they could become a formidable voting bloc in local and national politics, adult activists and students predicted.

"We're going to make a difference. We're going to be able to vote soon, and we really have to sit down and think about who we're going to vote for," said Karla Brizuela, a senior at Freedom High School in Prince William County. She helped organize demonstrations there last week against federal legislation that would crack down on illegal immigrants. "This is the beginning of a new life. We're going to fight. If our mom or dad gets deported, we feel that pain, too."

More than anything, the demonstrations during school hours have given teenagers a highly public platform to assert their views, Washington area Hispanic leaders said. The chance to attract local media, particularly the region's popular Spanish radio and television stations, has thrust them into the spotlight from an often marginalized place within their communities and schools. Although many protesters may be disciplined for walking out of class, some school officials have publicly praised them for exercising their right of free speech.

Carrying flags from their families' homelands, the students spent much of last week cutting classes, chanting " Latinos Unidos " and " Sí, se puede " ("Latinos United" and "Yes, we can") and marching down major streets in Prince William, Arlington and Montgomery counties. Their protests have been directed mainly against a House of Representatives bill that would, among other things, make it a felony to enter the United States without proper immigration documents or to help those who are here illegally. Proposals under consideration in the Senate would eventually allow illegal immigrants to work toward citizenship, provided that they pay fines and back taxes.

The strong turnout of student protesters will continue, the students said. A third demonstration is planned Friday, the last day before spring break in Prince William, at Freedom High School in Woodbridge.

On April 10, the immigrant outreach organization Mexicanos Sin Fronteras will help bus students from Prince William to the Mall for a rally against the proposed House legislation that is expected to draw thousands.

Walter Tejada (D), a member of the Arlington County Board, said students have reacted so strongly because they view the proposed laws as a personal attack against them and their families.

"They are outraged because they see their parents doing the maintenance work, cleaning the windows and strapping themselves to high-rise buildings," Tejada said. "We are seeing a renaissance of activism from the Latino youth, and we are going to feel the impact of this for many years to come. Political leaders need to be aware. Notice has been served. Those who want to use the immigrant community as a punching bag are going to pay for it at the voting booth."

Maryland Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) is confident that the student protests will lead to a surge in activism among Hispanics. Traditionally, she said, Latinos have been fearful of political participation in the United States, mainly because of the years of political violence they observed in their homelands.

"I was very happy to see that there was an effort to participate in the protests," she said. "I've tried in the past to get them involved, but there's been a timidity and fearfulness. But this issue is the straw that broke the camel's back."

Gutierrez said she spoke on a Spanish radio program last week urging young Hispanics to sustain a long-term interest in immigration issues, not just during politically volatile moments. She told them to convene assemblies in school with immigration lawyers and panels of students discussing their family's experiences.

"They need to use this as a teaching moment. Americans don't know what it means to be an immigrant, and that's why there's these extremist views in the mainstream," she said.

But Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said he is concerned that, no matter how galvanizing the issue, Hispanics turning 18 will follow the trends of young people in general, either by not registering to vote or by registering but not voting.

"Immigration has always been a mobilizing issue for Hispanics," he said, "but whether there's staying power will depend on what happens in Congress."

If protesters want to succeed, they need to review the lessons of history, particularly the 1994 battle in California over Proposition 187, a ballot initiative that barred social services to undocumented residents and their children, said Linda Chavez, who chairs the Center for Equal Opportunity, a think tank based in Loudoun County. She said protesters did not score points with voters when they draped themselves in the flags of their native lands.

"Since the 1970s, we've been pushing multiculturalism, but that is going to cause a backlash when you see the kids out there shouting in Spanish and carrying those flags," said Chavez, who in 2001 withdrew her nomination as President Bush's labor secretary over revelations that she housed an illegal immigrant. "You have to convince other people that you want the American dream and that you're not just coming here to earn money."

Anthony Lemus, 16, a junior at Freedom High School, has helped organize the protests. No way, he said, will his activism die down after the issues in Congress have been resolved.

"I see a pretty bright future for us. I hope this isn't the last thing we fight for. If another cause comes up that we disapprove of, we'll be out there."