As the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) become more intense in their actions to deport illegal immigrants, students across Las Vegas start taking action to spread their message of peace, hope, and justice. High schools throughout Las Vegas such as Palo Verde, Southwest Career and Technical Academy, Canyon Springs, and Western High School participated in protests and walk outs following The Las Vegas Academy of the Arts (LVA) initial statement through protest
On January 21, 2026, from 10:45am to 2pm, one of the first ICE protests occurred at LVA. Haven Anderson (12), a student and participant of the LVA protest shares,”the protest occurred about a week after the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Although this event acted as a catalyst or a wake up call to many people regarding the brutal behavior of ICE agents, the protest was a general strike in protest against ICE as a whole.” Furthermore, ABC news reports “students said their protests were fueled by concerns about immigration enforcement and families being separated.” While Kate Johnson (12), a student at LVA shares, “there was an underlying unrest between all of the students, who had been receiving news of ICE showing up to other schools around the district… We were trying to convey the message that if we, students, were upset and restless about ICE being in our community then the public and adults around the city would need to see that this matter is more serious than how the media is portraying it.” All students protesting hope to bring more attention to the constant aggressive removals of immigrants across the United States. Anderson further shares, “students were trying to convey a message of hope and justice. With an inability to vote and a lack of voice within actual government policy, this protest allowed students to feel seen and make an impact on a local level.”
These protests come directly from students with no adult involvement in the planning or execution. Nevada Assemblyman, Reuben D’Silva explained to Fox 3 News, “‘There’s no adult involvement. There’s no organization coming from outside of the students themselves. But they need to be safe, and I’m glad to see that Metro, as well as CCSD police, is present at these protests and these walkouts…I am very proud of those young people who are participating in these protests. They’re driven by passion. They’re driven by a sense of wanting to express themselves.’” The organization organizing and creating these events, an anonymous Instagram account entitled ice out vegas (@iceoutvegas) posts petitions, awareness, community, education, and information regarding future protests. Johnson, one of the managers and organizers of this account, worked to make sure their purpose was heard and understood, sharing, “it definitely reached our intended audience. A freshman sent a video that ended up on the news which was the main point of this protest, media attention and coverage. It sparked a lot of discourse…about how students were irresponsible or idiotic for doing this during school hours, but each comment pushed the message further just by spreading it. It got adults and people in the media to acknowledge that we as students were tired and angry about ICE being in our community.”
As more schools and students come together to share their messages, Anderson hopes their protests will occur as effectively and peacefully as their own, “the protest was completely peaceful and brought together the community in a beautiful way. The students walked from top to bottom of campus but found a central place where people shared stories and protest chants with one another. Before the protest, students posted to social media to gain attention to the protest and some students made posters in mass amounts to pass out to others.”
As high school students across the country struggle to make their voices heard, the growing number of protests provide students with hope that their message will reach people not only in their schools but across Nevada and beyond. Anderson shares, “I feel like this protest was a starting point to this message but there is still so much students are capable of doing to gain more attention and support around this movement.”
