“No fear, no hate! No ICE in our state!” So echoed the voices of dozens of impassioned students, ranging from bright-eyed 6th graders to seniors to faculty members alike. Brandishing colorful signs and bundled up in winter coats, these individuals peacefully marched down to the lower school protesting the recent actions of ICE– the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Academy walkout certainly didn’t emerge in a vacuum, with ICE actions over the past few weeks triggering protests across the nation. Although anger has been bubbling among Americans as a whole when it comes to ICE’s actions over the past year (polling from December indicated that Americans had already turned on Trump on immigration policy), tensions have come to a head in the aftermath of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis amidst an immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. Although some detractors have argued that ICE agents were within their rights to open fire, the vast majority of Americans disagree, with polling indicating that about two thirds of Americans disapprove of ICE’s tactics. Anger culminated first in protests and even a Minneapolis-wide strike on January 23rd, followed by nationwide protests last Friday that coincided with the walkout at Academy.

A significant element of these nationwide protests have been a student-led movement in which students leave the classroom or “walk-out” as a group to protest ICE’s tactics. On Friday, the Albuquerque Academy community joined in on the movement. Organized by the Academy Amnesty International club, the protestors met in the 10-12 quad and marched down to the security gate, before returning to the upper school campus. Students carried many different hand-drawn signs that conveyed their enthusiastic message. For example, we noted one student who compared the institution of ICE to the brutality witnessed in Germany in 1933 as civilians were kidnapped and alienated from their communities. Other students took sign inspiration from pop culture phenomena, such as “Heated Rivalry,” with one sign reading “the only ICE I like has Shane and Ilya on it.” “Spread love and not violence,” stated one young protestor, emphasizing the nonviolent nature of the walk-out movement.

Protests have not been restricted to Albuquerque Academy, either. Sandia Preparatory School students also walked out during their assembly period last Friday, about an hour before Academy’s walkout. Dozens of students could be seen leaving campus, many of whom posted plans and safety tips for the main protest downtown later that day. Albuquerque Public Schools kicked off the trend even earlier, with students from high schools including Manzano, Highland, Sandia High, Albuquerque High, Del Norte and Eldorado participating in a walkout on January 20th.

Eliza ‘26, a senior at Sandia High, remarked that the “passion…and strong will” of the students was evident with a “very big chunk” of the student body lining up on the street at 2 p.m. during the demonstration. Sandia High, in particular, has been a hotbed of activism over the past year, most notably on gun reform, and has hosted walkout-style protests in the past on firearm issues.

Our own Amnesty International club faced many obstacles while trying to institute this walk-out. Hayden ‘26, a leader of Amnesty International, spoke about how the club had to first meet with school personnel to receive an all-clear before the march. In addition, they were banned from posting announcements about the movement, and, thus, students learned about how they could participate simply by talking to others and through social media.

Students expressed their gratitude towards the Academy administration for allowing this walk-out to occur. “I’m really proud of Academy for doing this, and I am very happy for everyone who showed up and set up this protest,” said Katherine ‘27. The liberty of the students to be able to express their beliefs without impacting the normal functioning of the school, even within a private school system, is something to be highly valued. The anti-ICE walk-out marks the first major protest by AA in a number of years.

Many students from across the city later went to the major Albuquerque protest downtown at the Civic Plaza, organized by a coalition of groups including the Southwest Solidarity Network and Yucca NM. Among the approximately 20,000 attendees was Valerie ‘26, who attended both the Academy walkout and the main protest. When asked why she decided to attend a second protest, she argued that “it [was] more effective to be in a bigger setting where more people” could help to spread more awareness.

As protests that oppose ICE actions increase across the nation, it has never been more important to recognize the value of student voices. They are often the catalysts for wider advocacy movements. And on Friday, January 30th, Albuquerque Academy added its voice to this crescendoing uproar of change.