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Student Walkouts Over ICE Spread Nationwide as Texas Warns Schools of Sanctions

Schools weigh student speech rights against safety during a federal pullback in Minnesota.

Leander High School sophomore Mason Grogan joins his classmates in a protest after walking out in a student-planned “End ICE” protest, Feb. 4, 2026. Hundreds of students rallied in front of the school before marching down Bagdad Road for 2.5 miles to Robin Bledsoe Park.
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Leander High School sophomore Kimberly Delgado carries a flag as she marches down Bagdad Road toward Robin Bledsoe Park after walking out in a student-planned “End ICE” protest, Feb. 4, 2026. Hundreds of students rallied in front of the school before starting to march.
Leander High School students march down Bagdad Road toward Robin Bledsoe Park after walking out in a student-planned “End ICE” protest, Feb. 4, 2026. Hundreds of students rallied in front of the school before starting to march.

Overview

  • Texas Education Agency guidance warns districts against facilitating walkouts, citing possible funding losses, investigations, educator discipline, and even state-appointed board takeovers.
  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought records from Austin ISD and accused officials of encouraging protests, while districts said actions were student-led, supervised for safety, and counted as unexcused absences.
  • Walkouts persisted on Feb. 4 across multiple regions, including Ann Arbor and Plymouth-Canton in Michigan, Cincinnati in Ohio, the East Bay in California, and Pewaukee in Wisconsin.
  • Some districts tightened consequences, with Hays CISD announcing truancy and Saturday detention for participants; two student arrests there were later described by police as unrelated to the protest.
  • The White House said it would pull back hundreds of immigration officers from Minnesota, including 700 of about 3,000 deployed, as Congress faces a Feb. 13 deadline to fund DHS and clergy in Detroit urged lawmakers to cut ICE’s budget.