The suspension of a San Diego area high school student who posted pro-ICE posters in the school has been reversed.
The 17-year-old junior at Torrey Pines High School said he believes he was being punished for his political beliefs when he was suspended, which the school district denies.
"I'm relieved and vindicated," the student said.
His family asked that his identity be protected.
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In late February, the student said he put up a handful of flyers reading "We heart ICE," signed "Real Americans," in hallways during his lunch period. The student told me they were taken down soon after, and days later, he was suspended for one day.
The student said a school official told him the flyer was “demonizing and hateful.”
He told me he believes in ICE's mission, wanted to show support for the government, and was stunned by the suspension.
Conor Fitzpatrick, an attorney with the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, is representing the student.
Fitzpatrick pointed out that weeks before the student put up the flyers, hundreds of students participated in an anti-ICE walkout, with some bearing signs with strong language.
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"They didn't punish the students for engaging in their speech," Fitzpatrick said.
"But the problem is that when this student used his First Amendment right to nondisruptively voice his opinion that was contrary to the protesters, they suspended him, and that's where the First Amendment steps in," Fitzpatrick said.
In a statement, the San Dieguito Union High School District said it does not discipline students because of their political viewpoints, noting that schools do have rules that prohibit discrimination and harassment.
"But airing an opinion that might upset someone isn't harassment, and it's not fighting words," Fitzpatrick said. "It's part of being an American.”
Fitzpatrick said after requesting documents related to the suspension, he was notified by the school district on March 23 that the suspension was being expunged.
The student, who was worried the suspension would impact his college applications, called it welcome news. He hopes the reversal sends a message to other students to “not be afraid to stand up for what they believe in.”
