Hundreds of students suspended, schools under close watch over anti-ICE walkouts

 Hundreds of K-12 students across the country have received detention or suspension after participating in classroom walkouts to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts.  

Such anti-ICE or “ICE out” walkouts have increasingly popped up after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis last month.

But some observers say leaving school grounds is not a form of protest protected under the First Amendment for students, and Republican leaders are warning of consequences for those who participate.

“I applaud Mustang Superintendent Dr. Charles Bradley for suspending 122 students who walked out of class to protest,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) wrote on social platform X on Wednesday. “Young Oklahomans: Free speech is sacred, but truancy robs your future. Stay in school, build skills, and make your voice heard responsibly.” 

But as the Trump administration presses ahead with its aggressive immigration agenda, walkouts could spread, with some students objecting to the Trump policies generally and others marching in the names of detainees they personally know.

A student who participated in a walkout at King High School in Tampa, Fla., told a local news outlet his “mom has some great friends and they worked hard every day and they unfortunately got deported for no reason.” 

More than 300 were suspended in Northern Virginia this week after a walkout at Woodbridge Senior High School, with one mother telling a local news outlet she is “proud as heck” of her daughter who participated.

Experts say the First Amendment protects a student’s right to protest in schools through clothing or other nondisruptive ways, a right examined in the Tinker v. Des Moines case where students were punished for wearing armbands protesting the Vietnam War to class. But walkouts are different.

The “Supreme Court said that when you’re engaged in passive, silent expression, you have a right to engage in that expression, and, in fact, you have the right to engage in any expression on school grounds, as long as what you want to do doesn’t create a substantial risk of a material disruption. A material disruption is some physical event that prevents the normal operation of school, and unfortunately, nothing prevents the operation of school like they’re not being students today,” said Adam Goldstein, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.  

“So, students could wear T-shirts, armbands, buttons — they could write for the existing student newspaper or start their independent student newspaper. They could even plan a demonstration for after school hours, so they’re not leaving class to do it. So, there’s lots of other options. This particular one, though: Just because you want to engage in freedom of speech doesn’t give you the right to do something you didn’t have the right to do otherwise,” Goldstein added. 

Safety concerns also emerge when students leave campus and adult supervision.

The Clovis Police Department in California is filing charges against parents who joined a student walkout, according to The Fresno Bee. 

“These actions are unacceptable,” the police and school district reportedly said in a statement. “Adults who contribute to or promote truancy place minors at risk and interfere with their education.”

When announcing punishments for anti-ICE walkouts, schools are emphasizing that students are receiving detentions or suspensions over skipping class and not the issue they are protesting.  

“Schools are entitled to enforce rules around unexcused absences or unexcused leave policies. They are entitled to enforce those against students in general … there’s safety reasons for that,” said Robert Kim, executive director of the Education Law Center. “Also, there’s pedagogical and learning goals here that would be frustrated if schools couldn’t enforce absence policies and leave policies and things of that nature.” 

“So, in general, there is an ability of schools to enforce so-called neutral rules … I will say also that neither public schools nor state officials can be selective about enforcing those neutral rules” based on political viewpoints, he added. 

But not all students are facing harsh punishments, or any at all, for participating in the walkouts. 

David Law, superintendent of the Minnetonka School District in Minnesota, who has dealt with walkouts throughout his time in the education system, said his schools have always coordinated with students to ensure safety.

“The intent is really to be noticed, to make a statement,” Law said, adding students hold the walkouts during school because that’s when everyone is around and “they know it’ll be irritating.” 

“Our response has been, in the districts I’ve worked in, connecting with the student organizers and saying, ‘What’s your goal?’ And, as a reminder, there’s an expectation that while you’re at school, during school time, kids that don’t want to participate should have a right to participate in their classes, undisrupted,” Law added. 

But schools in Florida and Texas in particular are facing increased pressure from Republican officials to curtail anti-ICE walkouts.  

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced investigations into three school districts over suspicions that teachers encouraged students in the protests. His office did not say what evidence it had against the educators.    

And Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas sent a letter to districts in the state earlier this month saying, “Students retain constitutional rights to free expression, including the ability to engage in peaceful protest, when such expression complies with applicable law and school district policy. Any student whose actions are to the contrary should be appropriately disciplined.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5745489-ice-out-student-protests-texas-florida-oklahoma/