SAN JOSE, CALIF.—Showing their heartening support to immigrants, Latino Student Union (LSU) urged the Silver Creek community to join them in a march that happened on  Feb. 5, 2025.

As an effort to protest mass deportation attacks by the federal government, LSU planned a peaceful walk-off to Eastridge Mall after school. The march was open to students, staff and other Silver Creek community members, totaling around 100 supporters who carried signs and chanted messages for change. 

Other schools and organizations joined in the effort, increasing attention for the march on various social media platforms and across the community.

LSU’s goal is to advocate for a reform that prioritizes fairness and prevents families from being separated. The march also was a display of solidarity with those who have faced unjust treatment and violence from the government. 

“What I believe, is that standing by in complacency is what’s really pointless,” Minh Doan says, a Silver Creek High School senior and 
attendee at the march. Doan emphasizes the importance of the march and speaking up for change, adding, “Change can never come from silence.”

LSU President Daisy Flores emphasizes why protests are especially important and accessible for those who aren’t able to vote, “We can’t vote for example, so protests are a way that our voices can be heard and everybody can participate,” Flores says. 

While voting is the most common form of encouraging change, most students are under 18, the legal age to vote. So, participating in a peaceful march was a way to include anybody in the community who wanted to advocate for change. 

Flores adds, “We definitely got heard because we did it on a busy road.” She highlights the effect of marching to Eastridge Mall, where many people drive through heading home from work or school. 

As the next generation of leaders in our country, it’s important that students prove that protests and activism can encourage conversations for change to occur. Although this march was organized to advocate for social change, it can serve as inspiration for youth around the world to stand up for what they believe is right. Additionally, the march wasn’t the only example of protesting people of the Silver Creek community were a part of. On Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, people in various cities across the country participated in “Day Without Immigrants.” Many immigrants and children of immigrants took the day off of school and work to stand in solitary for their community.