In the last month, people across the United States have risen up against Trump administration’s violent anti-immigrant policies. Students have played a key role in the movement against ICE, mobilizing to protect their immigrant neighbors and demand that federal agents leave their cities.

High school and even some middle school students from across the country — including Indiana, Maryland, Utah, Louisiana, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, Washington, New York, and elsewhere — have walked out of their classrooms, staged sit-ins, and taken to the streets. They see the connection between the violent raids and their education: “It’s the threat and the fear of intimidation while you’re trying to pursue your education, which to me, is really horrible,” explained one Seattle student. The students’ bravery is inspiring in the face of threats and disciplinary action from school administrators.

Iowa City high school students from West High and City High have staged a large walkout, calling to Abolish ICE. pic.twitter.com/0YNXVO2FrY

— Oliver Weilein, Iowa City Councilor (@Ollie_XVX) February 5, 2026

University students, too, are taking a stand. At both the University of Minnesota and Carnegie Mellon University, students have walked out of classes and held rallies calling for ICE to be abolished. In speeches, these students highlight their optimism in the face of repression. As one University of Minnesota student described: “The Twin Cities belong to us. It doesn’t belong to them. And together we’re going to take it back. And I’ve seen the community come together and when that happens, I know we’re going to get them out and I know that’s the only way this ends.”

Students at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities staged a walkout and held a rally to protest the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and what they described as growing fear in their community https://t.co/YdqYgag6QQ pic.twitter.com/gZH8XSSb1Y

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 27, 2026

Importantly, students played a key role in national mobilizations on January 30, after union leaderships shied away from calling for a second economic blackout. Tens of thousands of students across the country — in Red and Blue states alike — left their classrooms and marched through their cities and towns to demand an end to ICE activities in their schools and communities. As calls grow across the country for an end to Trump’s immigration crackdown, students are carrying the fight forward.

RIGHT NOW: Huge anti-ICE student walkout in Meadowcreek High School in Norcross, Georgia. The protest is one of many actions across the country in solidarity with the Minnesota general strike. pic.twitter.com/mAW3nIVEKn

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) January 23, 2026

These walkouts are just one sign of widespread rejection of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown. As we saw first hand in Minneapolis, communities across the U.S. have been touched by ICE raids and are fighting back through protests, walk-outs, business closures, and even community networks to protect their neighbors. And this movement is achieving concessions: The Trump administration has been forced to partially retreat, leading to the withdrawal of 700 agents in Minneapolis and the recall of Customs and Border Protection head Greg Bovino.

But we can’t stop now. These student mobilizations show that the hatred of Trump’s policies runs deep, but kicking ICE out of our cities and protecting immigrants will require independent self-organizing by the whole working class. After all, as workers, we have the strategic power to both shut things down and to defend our communities. The student walkouts are a national phenomenon — individual schools can join forces to work toward a national walkout on campuses across the United States, giving more weight to calls for a general strike from below.

Students and educators, including teachers unions, must organize to protect their students from ICE raids, learning from the examples of the brave Minneapolis teachers who are coordinating measures like food drop-offs for families sheltering in place. Labor unions in all sectors must go beyond simple words of solidarity and begin organizing toward a national general strike, putting the full force of the rank and file behind the struggle for immigrant rights.

Protecting students will collaboration that extends beyond campuses. The student and labor movements need to unite under independent, working-class politics, mobilizing in workplaces, campuses, and the streets to say, once and for all: ICE Out!

The post Student-Led Walkouts Show Growing Resistance to ICE appeared first on Left Voice.

From Left Voice via This RSS Feed.