Lodi High School student Rene Caldera signs up to join nearly 30 students to help write letters to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger regarding new proposals on the immigration issue. Students and staff gathered in the teachers' lounge today to discuss appropriate means to get their voices heard. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Lodi High students seek productive way to protest U.S immigration proposals

Edgar Fuentez may not know Senate Bill 2454 from House Bill 4437. The 18-year-old Lodi High School senior does know, however, he cannot stand behind a law that would make felons of family members who work illegally in California's fields.

A registered voter, Fuentez joined thousands of Valley students in Stockton protesting the recent immigration proposals being mulled over at the national level. He walked out of school that day to attend the demonstration.

He will not make that mistake again, he says now.

Fuentez was one of more than 100 students who packed into Lodi High's staff lounge today to find out how they could make their voices heard without breaking school rules.

Several Lodi Unified students left campuses at Lodi and Tokay, Bear Creek and McNair last week to attend small protests in town or larger rallies in Stockton and Sacramento.

Teacher Darlene Calija, who spoke to students at the meeting, said the walk-outs sent a message to teachers that students don't care about their own education. She encouraged students to act positively and choose their words carefully.

Lodi High junior Lidia Molina asked the crowd to unite and send a common message to legislators through letters and e-mail.

"We don't come here to destroy the U.S. — we come here to get better," she said. "If you want to protest, let's do it the right way."

The subject of illegal immigrants and they're place in American society is being passionately debated at local, state and national levels. Students are talking in classes and among themselves.

"We've been working hard for a long time," Fuentez said of Mexican immigrants at large. "(This) is going to get a lot of people excited."

Students who turned out for the meeting were, indeed, eager to sign up for a group that would draft petition letters to local legislators speaking out against the proposals.

Additionally, the student-led group would consider organizing demonstrations in Lodi that would not take place during school hours.

All the planning will have to be done by the students and not during school hours, cautioned Lodi High Principal Bill Atterberry, who said there could be trouble for school officials supporting political causes on the clock.

"We're not going to be in the business of organizing protests," said Atterberry, adding that the meeting was held to discourage kids from cutting classes to attend rallies.

The process of kids discovering their right to be heard and become informed on how to interact with government gives them the unique opportunity to apply what they learn in high school civics classes.

Calija, who teaches government and economics, agreed.

"There are a lot of (Latino students) who are legal," she said. "They're going to be citizens and it's my job to teach them about the rights they have."

After the meeting, students crowded a table to add their names to a list of people willing to write letters to local congressmen.

Fuentez scrawled his name neatly to the right of the left margin of a piece of notebook paper.

"I'm going to help them do all the work they need," he said. "I'll do whatever I can."

Contact reporter Sara Cardine at sarac@lodinews.com.

First published: Tuesday, April 4, 2006