Students Protest Against ICE

Ava Cai

February 13, 2026

Throughout the week of February 3rd, high school students from across the Bay Area, California, marched out of their classrooms during the school day in protest against ICE activities. Students held handmade signs and chanted in strong unison, pledging to stand with the Minnesotan people and everyone affected by Trump’s immigration crackdowns. 

For the past few months, hallways and classrooms have been filled with chatter and a strong disapproval of ICE agents tormenting innocent people. Criticism of the Trump administration is a popular seminar topic in classrooms, and a strong anti-ICE stance is widespread in high schools across the Bay Area. These protests were individually organized by students in each of these schools from Cupertino to San Jose, Saratoga, Palo Alto, and San Francisco. California law determined that each student be granted an excused day of absence for any form of political or civic protest, and school administrations recognized this right for their students and supported their peaceful demonstrations. 

These student-led protests didn’t just happen in the Bay Area; schools from across the nation participated in their own defiances against the ruthless ICE raids. For example, schools in Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and Las Vegas held massive walkouts in their respective school districts. 

Although recent government activities have completely stripped my faith in the honesty and security of our nation, these student-protests spark some hope in me that our youth—a generation of young adults who are often deemed “immature” and unable to take on the responsibilities of this world—will turn this atrocity around. We are unfairly handed the task of cleaning up a filthy nation lost of its kindness and human decency, but I am confident that the younger generation has the courage and morality to bring pride back into the country we call home. 

The adolescent generation, which I am part of, is not perfect—we’re lazy, incompetent, and don’t always make the smartest choices at times. However, I’m confident to say that we all share a commonality that is rare in this day; we are proud Americans who love our country and are willing to defend it with the resources we have. The student protests of February 3rd proved just that. Trump and ICE have nothing against a generation of strength and evident resilience, and we will fight for the America we grew up in, for love will always be stronger than hate.