Friday, January 30, was a "National Shutdown Day," where middle and high school students were encouraged to walk out of class in the middle of the day to show solidarity with Minneapolis and other cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is conducting enforcement raids.
As our editor Bob Hoge reported:
High schoolers in numerous blue cities around the country have regularly been playing hooky, preferring to attend anti-ICE protests rather than focus on their education. Not surprisingly, the data show that many of these so-called learning institutions have disastrous academic records.
The kids don’t need to worry about consequences, though — all too often, the teachers and administrators are egging them on and skipping school themselves to join in the fun.
Our teachers' unions should be so proud.
Watch: Tense Moments at Student-Involved Anti-ICE Protest in Los Angeles
They are no doubt proud, especially since these protests didn't stop with one day. They have continued into February, and there were several across the country just this week. As education activist Corey DeAngelis has reported, these protests are not only being encouraged but also funded through the National Education Association (NEA). Despite declining student achievement nationwide and high schoolers who cannot read and can barely write, the NEA feels it is a priority to teach children about activism.
DeAngelis spoke with One America News Network on the NEA's tactics to activate teachers and mobilize students into anti-ICE soldiers.
WATCH:
The teachers union can’t get reading and math right, but they think the ICE protests should be required? @DeAngelisCorey on this: pic.twitter.com/dkgiSuizwY
— Americans For Fair Treatment (@AmericansFair) February 19, 2026
And these protests are escalating into trouble and violence. ARLNow reported that one high school student was being charged with attacking police during an anti-ICE protest on Wednesday.
A high school student is facing several charges after allegedly attacking police amid anti-ICE walkouts Wednesday afternoon.
Hundreds of students peacefully participated in the planned walkouts at Arlington middle and high schools, protesting immigration enforcement and violence by federal agents.
Amid the event at Arlington Tech, however, a call for backup went out from an officer who was monitoring the protest from his cruiser at the intersection of S. Highland Street and Columbia Pike.
“I’ve got someone hitting my car,” the officer said on the police dispatch channel. “Now he’s in front of my cruiser laying down.”
Numerous officers rushed to assist and ended up taking the suspect into custody. He was later identified as a 18-year-old who, we’re told, formerly attended the STEM-focused option school.
During a Thursday protest in Palm Beach County, FL, a minor was struck by a car.
A minor believed to be participating in a protest against ICE was hit by a car on Monday afternoon.
According to the West Palm Beach Police Department, at about 12:30 p.m., officers responded to a pedestrian vs. vehicle crash near the South Wind Plaza on N. Military Trail.
Video shows the minor lying on the ground with police and fire personnel surrounding him and rendering aid.
Police say the minor was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver remained at the scene of the crash.
On Tuesday, in Asheville, NC, over 200 students were recorded storming out of their school and flooding a four-lane highway nearby.
Safety, much?
WATCH:
🚨#BREAKING I have obtained horrifying footage from the AC Reynolds High School "ICE OUT!" protest here in Asheville NC.
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) February 19, 2026
It appears that not a single adult was with the children when they BOLTED out of classes and into the middle of a 4-lane highway.
This is beyond dangerous… pic.twitter.com/EahAXqZepM
The better news is that parents and administrators are not taking this lying down.
Parents nationwide are now calling for clear boundaries and policies to prevent schools from using authority and resources to involve students in political activism. The debate highlights tensions over parental rights, education, and the role of schools in civic engagement.
The "role of schools in civic engagement?" The first step is to actually teach civics in the first place.
One mother in Washington state was horrified that her 7th-grade daughter was forced to participate in the anti-ICE protest. The mother gave the school administration a tongue-lashing and pulled her child out of the school district. The mother said, "This is disrupting traffic and my child's education. [...] I'm ashamed, and I'm embarrassed, as a parent and an adult. I'm like WOW, I thought my child was safe here."
🚨JUST IN: Auburn, WA mom just went FULL MAMA BEAR and absolutely OWNED her daughter’s middle school for letting kids walk out of class to protest ICE.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 31, 2026
She marched in, confronted the principal, called out the woke nonsense, and PULLED HER DAUGHTER OUT. pic.twitter.com/87Hdt9eUpZ
And there you have it. Thankfully, not all school administrators are as WOKE and loosey-goosey as the ones above. In Spring Township, PA, Principal Daniel Weber laid down the law. If students did not return to class, they would be suspended.
A principal at Wilson High School in Spring Township, Pennsylvania, ordered students who walked out of class to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to return to class.
Across the country, students have walked out of school to protest ICE, especially since Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers were involved in the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in January. Principal Daniel Weber addressed the students in a video posted on TikTok by a user known as othersideofanalia.
“We go back to class and we’re good. If you stay out here, we will get your names, you will be suspended, OK? That is your option at this point because you are operating outside the bounds of what was granted,” Weber told the students. “That event was canceled. You left school without, you left school without permission. Your rights do not supersede the school. So if you understand that, that is your option.”
Your rights do not supersede the school, Weber said. Why is this not explained to students or these districts that are encouraging this nonsense? It seems all they understand are lawsuits, and trust me, they may be coming.
Some sanity prevailed in Virginia. In Prince William County, over 300 high school students were suspended for their participation in a February 13 anti-ICE protest. While the administrators emphasized that the students were not being punished for their protest, they let them know that they were in violation because they left school grounds without permission.
As of Wednesday, a total of 303 students had been suspended, which is roughly 10.5% of Woodbridge High School’s student population. Parents of the suspended students have also been informed.
School Board Chairman Dr. Babur Lateef said Wednesday the students were being suspended not because they protested ICE but rather because they left school grounds. Because schools are responsible for students’ safety during the school day, leaving school without permission is not allowed.
“We continue, as a school division, to allow students to express their First Amendment rights, but we also believe we have to teach them how to express their rights to free speech responsibly,” Lateef said.
“They are not being punished for protesting,” he added. “They are being punished for leaving school property in violation of the code of behavior.”
WATCH:
But insanity still exists. Another protest is being scheduled at this high school for Friday, February 20.
Organizers for the next "ICE OUT" protest said all Prince William County Public Schools officials have been notified of the protest and students will not be in trouble for walking out of class, but urged students to stay safe as the event is county wide.
"Welcome to Prince William County Schools ICE OUT," the organizers wrote on Instagram. "It’s time to take a stand and we are grateful to have the opportunity to exercise our constitutional rights."
The group urged students to remain civil and not throw items at people during the protests.
What could go wrong? Stay tuned.
Editor's Note: President Trump is fighting to dismantle the Department of Education and ensure America's kids get the education they deserve.
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