Skip to main content
Friday, October 30, 2026Oct 30
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Maryland high school thrust into immigration debate

Plastic cups spell out Rockville Strong, at Rockville High School in Rockville, Maryland, on Thursday, March 23, 2017. The school has been thrust into the national immigration debate after a 14-year-old student said she was raped in a bathroom, allegedly by two classmates, including one who authorities said came to the U.S. illegally from Central America. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)
Plastic cups spell out Rockville Strong, at Rockville High School in Rockville, Maryland, on Thursday, March 23, 2017. The school has been thrust into the national immigration debate after a 14-year-old student said she was raped in a bathroom, allegedly by two classmates, including one who authorities said came to the U.S. illegally from Central America. (AP Photo/Brian Witte) Plastic cups spell out Rockville Strong, at Rockville High School in Rockville, Maryland, on Thursday, March 23, 2017. The school has been thrust into the national immigration debate after a 14-year-old student said she was raped in a bathroom, allegedly by two classmates, including one who authorities said came to the U.S. illegally from Central America. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)

By Associated Press 5 min read

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – Outside a Maryland high school dragged into the national immigration debate by an alleged rape, a makeshift sign reflects that strain: “Rockville Strong.”

Rockville High School students and parents declined to comment Thursday about the case involving a 14-year-old girl and a suspect authorities say came to the U.S. illegally from Central America.

One mother would only point to the sign made of red plastic cups in a ballpark fence.

Protesters on both sides of the debate converged on a nearby elementary school earlier Thursday during a visit by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. And the White House has weighed in, saying President Donald Trump has made a crackdown on illegal immigration a priority “because of tragedies like this.”

The Montgomery County school system has been besieged by hundreds of racist and xenophobic calls. In response, schools beefed up police presence in an attempt to reassure the anxious community.