Demonstrations broke out Friday at a Baltimore County high school after a teacher allegedly made a social media post calling on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to investigate Hispanic students.
Students at Overlea High School staged a protest inside the school’s hallways after nearly 50 Hispanic students—who had been excused from class earlier in the week to participate in an immigration justice demonstration—were reportedly targeted in the post.
The teacher allegedly tagged ICE’s official account, offering the students’ names for investigation while referring to them as “illegals” or the children of undocumented immigrants.
“It’s really disappointing because that teacher was someone people trusted and felt comfortable talking to,” said Overlea student Andrew Mendez. “Now, it’s hard to know if you can really trust a teacher.”
Many current students and alumni expressed outrage and a sense of betrayal over the post, which has since been deleted. The message reportedly read:
“We had almost 50 students at my school be legally excused to skip and support illegals protesting earlier this week. All are either immigrants or kids of. If you want the names to investigate families to find illegals, let me know in dm. I’ll give names and school. All in Md.”
“I think it’s racist,” said Overlea alum Austin Mendez. “He’s assuming all these students are undocumented when many of them are probably already citizens.”
Protests and Student Reactions
During a lunchtime protest, students marched through the halls chanting, “We are one,” denouncing what they viewed as a severe breach of trust by someone meant to educate and support them.
“He was already kind of controversial, but we just brushed it off, thinking he was just outspoken,” Austin added. “But hearing what he said behind the scenes—it really upset people.”
“We thought we knew him,” said Andrew. “A lot of students looked up to him, and now they feel let down.”
School Administration Responds
Overlea High School Principal Dr. Monica Sample addressed the controversy in a letter to parents, stating:
“School administration recently learned about an unsettling social media post—allegedly from an Overlea High School teacher—directed at a group of Overlea High School students. The statements made in the post do not represent our values as a school community and fall outside BCPS’ acceptable practices and high expectations for staff members.”
She assured parents that the school is following all necessary policies and procedures to investigate the matter and remains committed to maintaining a safe and inclusive learning environment.
Attempts to contact the teacher for comment have been unsuccessful.
