Student leaders planned a widespread walkout in support of victims affected by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday, January 30, 2026, during Advisory. 

Despite the fact that many were marked off with an unexcused absence on their schedule, nearly 1000 students showed up to walkout in support of victims, meeting in the courtyard. Organizers were there to give speeches about the impact of this walkout and what it stood for. 

An event from the day earlier took place at Irvington Park after school on January 29th to make posters and signs. Community members came together to make notable signs, including “ICE Melts Under Pressure”, “All Humans Deserve Civil Rights” and “Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere.”

The next day, students walked around the school, chanting slogans and showing their support for victims affected by ICE under the Trump administration. This walkout remained successful, and to quote Principal Hicks, “This was much more organized. Very good speeches, good posters, good signs, students paying attention, engaged. There was a purpose to it, and I can fully support peaceful protests.”

This walkout had an impact on the student body as well as the rest of the community. Edward Miu (11), a student who attended the walkout, commented, “A lot of people think speaking out doesn’t make a difference. They might not make that much of an impact themselves, but if enough people do it, then they can.” Regardless of the impact he and other students believe this walkout had, he added, “I was kind of hoping that we would actually walk out.” 

Ashwin Gupta (12) remarked on the range of the protest, “While the protest was really well organized, the point seemed to fall short. By staying in school, the message’s scope was severely limited.” However, he did later state that the speeches were impactful, even if the event itself did not seem to truly move the needle beyond Irvington’s population. 

Principal Hicks commented on the request that students not walk out of school. “I, as a principal, appreciate that they stayed here and gave good speeches. If students walked out, we’d have adults walking who would not have been interfering, other than ‘Hey, stay out of the street.’”

As he also added in relation to unexcused absences and codes that remain consistent across the state, “Students in middle school and high school are allowed to have one day a year for a protest, but it still goes down as unexcused.” 

Irvington’s student walkout is part of a larger trend of youth-led demonstrations that have occurred throughout the Bay Area in the last few weeks. ABC7 has reported around a dozen demonstrations across East Bay schools with thousands walking out in support since around the end of January. 

Among them were protests at Mission San Jose, American, Washington, Kennedy, Logan, and Newark Memorial High Schools led by student organizers at Tri-City Against Ice. These demonstrations took place on Friday, February 6, with each school hosting poster-making sessions the day before. 

The first walkout Irvington High School planned was on January 20, but with limited information spread about this event, many individuals missed this walkout. This walkout took place during 5th period, and a few students did participate, even with its limited scope. 

One of the organizers of the January 30 event, Michelle Nguyen (12), commented on why the protest held such significance for her and the large community present. “This event matters because the brutality and violence that is committed by ICE and funded by the current administration is dehumanizing and horrific. It is really easy for students to be in a position of privilege and ignore issues that don’t affect them, but the issue of ICE brutality and oppression is something that affects all of us. Being in a position of privilege, it is even more important for us to speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

“To stay silent as a passive bystander is to be complacent, so we wanted to speak out against this injustice. I hope students can realize after this event that they are never too young, too uninformed, too weak to speak up.” Nguyen (12) later stated, “Each and every one of us can use our voice to make a difference and take action when we see injustice.”