On February 3rd 2026, some Alta High School students participated in a walkout protesting ICE. The walkout began before 4th period, and in general lasted around 1-2 hours. The original goal was to walk to Harmons, however those involved ended up walking all the way down to State Street. Some students broke off at that point to retire to their homes for the day, and others ended up walking all the way back to Alta to retrieve their bags and get rides home.
Throughout the protest, there were various cars that either ended up following the protesters in support, and while not entirely clear, some seemed to follow as a way to oppose the walkout. One of these cars in particular ended up assaulting the students involved in the walkout by following them down various streets, screaming and yelling at them all while throwing ice cubes at them.

This was also not the only student led protest for this topic. Throughout the entire week, students began leading school-wide walkouts during 4th and 8th period. The reason for the protest was to raise awareness for the ICE deportations. But some people don’t know what ICE is. According to an article posted by BBC, ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The primary job they do is to act as a pillar of national security and public safety. Notably, they provide this support by enforcing immigration laws. Therefore, it leads to the detention and deportation of millions of immigrants. 

Despite their goal of deporting illegal unauthorized immigrants, some people believe what the ICE program is doing is cruel. This has led to conflict across the country, resulting in numerous protests. Some protests were planned in schools or offices, while others were planned by civilians outside of everyday work and school. 

Why so much conflict with politics then? Trump has increased the funding for ICE, by giving it a projected 75+ Billion dollars budget in early 2026. In order to supply this high of a budget, there has had to be cuts in funding for parks, schools, and other public lands. Protesters think that paying this amount of money and taking funds away from public lands for this purpose is wrong. 

These protests were organized to show support for fellow students, however there are other ways to show support. You can post positive stuff on social media, create signs for others, or just share a kind word with someone who this is directly affecting.