“Stop terrorizing us”: For this 17-year-old high school student, the fight to stop ICE is not just political—it’s personal

On January 30, Janely Sibrian-Murillo and her friend Janet posted a video on Instagram. “Hey guys I’m Janet, and I’m Janely, and we are juniors at Archer High School,” they said into the camera, taking turns speaking. It was the first time they’d done something like this. “Families are being torn apart, students are afraid to come to school, immigrants are being targeted simply for existing,” they went on. “This isn’t happening far away. It’s happening right now in our communities.”

Posting under an account they’d started, @gwinnettstudentsprotest, Janely and Janet were calling on fellow Gwinnett County students to show up at Alexander Park in Lawrenceville the following Friday, February 6, to raise their voices against ICE. “We were really nervous. We were so scared,” said Janely, describing what it was like to post the video. “We were like, is this gonna work?”

The 17-year-old was putting herself out on a limb. But things had reached a point, she said, where she just felt like she had to do something. “I had to put it in my mind not to care what [people] think or say, because at the end of the day, this is for people to have a better life and for ICE to stop terrorizing us.”

Several weeks ago, Janely’s stepdad, who is from Mexico, “got caught without an ID,” and was eventually taken into custody. His absence has taken a toll on the family. Janely’s mother, who earns money cleaning houses, also has two younger children, one of whom has autism. Janely and her mom lie to them about where their dad is, telling them he’s working out of state. “How do you tell a six-year-old and a three-year-old that their dad can’t come home?” she said.

With the loss of her stepdad’s income, legal fees for an immigration attorney, and childcare expenses, money has gotten tighter, and Janely said her mom has been leaning on food stamps and credit cards. Janely also runs a nail business out of her house and chips in with food costs. “My mom is just all over the place, and I hate seeing her go through it,” Janely said. “I see her suffering and I can’t do anything about it. Because supposedly, you know, I’m too young.”

Janely had already participated in a school protest against ICE, which she said over 200 people joined. Archer High was among the over 100 schools in Georgia where students joined national “ICE Out” protests in late January, spurred by the killings in Minnesota of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. Invigorated by the walkout, Janely and Janet decided to organize a protest for all Gwinnett County students the following week. “We wanted to do something bigger, where the whole county could see us and the whole county can get together.” 

Last Friday, on a digital learning day for Gwinnett County students, Janely waited patiently in the middle of Alexander Park in Lawrenceville as people straggled in. She wasn’t sure how many would show up, but, she said, but “even if not a lot of people see us, we’re doing it, and I feel like that’s what matters.” 

By 12:30 p.m., around two dozen students and a few parents and community members had gathered. 

Among them were two sisters who go to school in Buford, who said they join protests regularly with their mom. They both knew people whose families were separated after someone was detained, or had to move back to their native countries. “A close friend of mine, his dad got taken to her facility in Tennessee,” said one of the sisters, who is in high school. “Even though he had a green card on him and he was here completely legally.”

After a critical mass had gathered, the protestors marched out of Alexander Park and down the road to the corner of Old Snellville Highway and Sugarloaf Parkway, chanting phrases like “The students united will never be defeated” and “Abolish ICE” and garnering honks of support from drivers. 

When they got back to the park, Janely and Janet brought out water bottles and bags of Doritos they’d kept in their car. The students sat in a circle, munching on chips under the bright sun. Janelly had asked a former school counselor to speak to them about how they could better support one another. 

Before starting the circle, though, one of the sisters from Buford ran up to Janely. She wanted to know if they could start a WhatsApp group so they could continue to organize. “Sure,” said Janely.

Janely said she wants to keep organizing—even if it didn’t attract the crowd she’d expected, she’d still pulled off this small protest at the park in Lawrenceville. She’s fueled by a simple goal. 

“My mom was born here, but my grandma, she came from Honduras,” Janely said. “So it’s like the life that my mom gave, that her mom gave her, she wants to still improve it. And that’s what all of us want—each generation just wants to improve for the next generation. So that’s what we’re all here to do, to make it better for the next generation.”