A Torrey Pines High School student in San Diego faced suspension after displaying a flyer that read "We [heart] ICE – Real Americans" following an anti-ICE walkout at the school, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Just the News reported that anti-ICE walkouts organized by students have multiplied across the nation, with over 300 such events occurring in 2026. Meanwhile, the National Education Association has directed $1.7 million toward a May Day 2026 training toolkit containing anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement content, according to an investigation conducted by Defending Education.
Free the Future, the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, New York University's Steinhardt Metro Center, and the Midwest Academy run a "Four Weeks of Power" training series supporting these activities. Since 2015, the Midwest Academy has collected $1,735,000, with NEA money fueling trainings that encourage protests demanding higher taxes on the wealthy, opposition to ICE, and expanded democracy.
Torrey Pines administrators reportedly characterized the student's flyer as "harassment" and "intimidation" to justify the punishment, drawing concern from advocates for free expression.
"Schools cannot favor one viewpoint over another. When students express themselves non-disruptively, the First Amendment guarantees their right to freedom of speech, regardless of what opinion they share," Conor Fitzpatrick, senior attorney at FIRE, told The Center Square.
Fitzpatrick observed that disciplining students for particular viewpoints while tolerating others creates obvious viewpoint discrimination problems.
"Any time a student is punished for non-disruptive speech, it makes others scared to exercise their own free speech rights," Fitzpatrick said. "We expect schools to prepare students for real life, and in life, students will have co-workers, neighbors and elected officials who may not talk, think or pray the same way they do."
According to Fitzpatrick, student speech only becomes punishable harassment when it is "so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive" that it effectively denies other students equal access to educational opportunities. For intimidation to warrant discipline, it must constitute a true threat involving intent to commit unlawful violence.
"It should be deeply concerning that one of the suggested tactics is to enter schools to protest against policies they don't like," Rhyen Staley, director of research at Defending Education, said in a statement. "Putting children's education and safety at risk for political gain is unethical and immoral."
Defending free speech, especially speech calling for immigration restriction, represents one of the crucial battles of our era. The immigration question will shape the demographic and cultural future of the American republic for generations to come, and every effort to suppress those advocating for enforcement and limits must be understood as an existential political threat.
