Hollister students use podcast to address immigration fears

By Jacquelyn Quinones

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    HOLLISTER, Calif. (KSBW) — Hollister High School students are using a podcast to help their peers cope with anxiety over immigration raids.

“‘Are they going to take me away? Am I going to go to school one day and come back and my parents are gone what do I do then?'” said Hollister High School student Angel Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, a senior at Hollister High, says instead of enjoying his last year in high school, he now worries about ICE coming into his school.

“I have to pass this class, I need to graduate, I have to move on to college or what’s after that maybe just pure work but now on top of that you have added stress,” said Gonzalez.

The “Our Voices” podcast was created by local high school students who wanted a safe space to talk about their concerns and issues. This week, the topic was ICE and immigration policies.

“The whole podcast is ran by youth for the youth,” said Alina Patino, another student said.

For many of the students behind the weekly podcast, the issue of immigration hits close to home.

“My mom is a teacher here at Hollister in Middle School and just coming home and hearing so many stories of kids her class went from 35 to maybe 20… 15 kids aren’t coming to school because they are so afraid of ICE,” said Patino. “School is their safe haven and now it’s something that they fear.”

“Seeing people’s parents and people’s family members scared to even go out and go grocery shopping it’s really heartbreaking to see that,” said Sophia Cebada.

Cebada hopes that by having these tough conversations on their podcast, they will help other kids cope with their fear and anxiety and know that they are not alone.

“We kind of hope that by talking about things that people are afraid to talk about that it will give motivation and inspiration to other people,” said Cebada.

We have seen some ICE activity on the Central Coast, but so far it has not been widespread.

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