Junior Maaike Mora is a co-president of Carmel Young Progressives, and led this school’s walkout a part of the nationwide protests against ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on Jan. 20, demanding federal withdrawal from Minnesota and other communities. On Feb. 11, WIRED reported that ICE would establish an office in Carmel. Mora spoke at Carmel City Council the following Monday, on Feb. 16, regarding the impact of this establishment on the safety of Carmel residents. 

What first motivated you to organize and lead the ICE protest?

We had our callout meeting, and our sponsor (James) Ziegler, brought up that there would be a mass walk out, not necessarily in Indiana, but nationally. That actually sparked an idea in both of us, and we were like, “OK, wait, how many of you would actually go to that?” We took a poll of the callout meeting, and everybody raised their hands. We were like, well, maybe we can get this done in less than a week. We did some research and we saw what time (others) were going to do the walkout and what time would correspond for it to be a success.  

What were the biggest challenges you faced while organizing it?

Jack (McNally, Carmel Young Progressives co-president and sophomore) did most of the talking, but we talked to the principal and we asked if we would be allowed to do this (and) what would the absences be and (if) detention would even be a part of it at all. Me and Jack were both fully aware, if need be, we would take suspensions, or detention or whatever the punishment. It turns out that all we needed to do was just fill out an excuse absence form, and that was great. We also saw the weather outside—that was definitely a problem—but obviously with the outcomes, it wasn’t necessarily bad of an outcome, so that was nice. There were threats of a counter walkout happening at one point, but that wasn’t successful, and there were a couple people on social media that were trying to harass us, I guess, but I saw it (overall) as relatively easy. 

Did you face any pushback? How did you handle it?

There was definitely a threat that we had to be a little bit conscious of, but once we got the walkout up and running, it didn’t affect us at all. There was an anonymous tip that there would be ICE in Carmel at that point in time, since there’s an ICE tracker website, and Jack saw that.  We were a little bit concerned about that, but they didn’t end up showing up, and we don’t know if it was actually a real threat or not, but that was definitely something that we were worried about. 

There were several other protests in the country, but why do you think it’s important Carmel High School was involved?

I think people see us as mostly wealthy, mostly white and all this, but there is a diverse community within Carmel, and regardless if we fit those stereotypes, there are issues going on around the country. While they don’t involve us, it’s important that we stand up for our beliefs. If we were put in that situation, what would we have done, right? It’s important for us right now to be involved with that stuff because it’s important that people know that Carmel’s not lenient towards a major conservative side. 

How did the opportunity arise to speak in front of the City Council?

I didn’t know how City Hall meetings worked, but Jack and I both saw that there would be a meeting for City Hall on (the following) Monday, and we saw that there was also going to be an ICE office opening in Carmel, so we thought that would be a good topic to bring up at City Council and especially City Hall, especially because it’s coming from a kid. Because I’m Hispanic, also, it would be more impactful that way. Also, it’s just the fact that we know that (in) City Hall, we don’t know if they can do anything. But it’s important for them to realize how they’re speaking about this issue, and how they’re going to work to change it regardless if they can’t do anything with their own power. 

How did you prepare your remarks?

Like I said, I’m Hispanic, but I’m also white, so I’m a mix of both, right? With that being said, the impact that ICE would bring to our family would be detrimental, because of the obvious reasons—racial profiling and all that. Coming from a high school kid, having that fear already present from my youngest brother who’s in elementary school, I wanted to make that fear noted in City Hall. I think one

of (the council members), Anita Joshi, noted that once a child comes into play, you need to start acting right. I also wanted to let them know that something like that, regardless if it was an administrative office, could spiral into things out of everybody’s control. That’s what happened in Minneapolis. I just wanted to put that on their radar regardless if they don’t have the exact same beliefs as I do. It’s definitely a fear that’s present within our community, and I wanted to bring that to light, especially within our school community.

Do you plan to stay involved in activism?

I’m speaking at a No Kings protest in Noblesville, and then I have another thing for City Hall.  We’ll definitely try to spur up the club again and maybe organize some other protests or walkouts, but not necessarily at school because repeating that would not really do much good.  I like to compose music correlating with my activism, so right now I’m making a couple pieces on the immigration journey. I’m not losing sight of activism and neither is the club. 

What advice would you give to other students who want to speak out about similar issues?

 If you can look at yourself in the mirror and be happy with how you’ve spoken about certain issues, that’s great, but if you haven’t spoken and you’re holding all this stuff in your mind, it’s better to speak it now and, and feel proud of yourself that you’ve done that, instead of looking in the mirror and thinking, I regret not helping these people or being on the right side of history.