Thursday, October 1, 2026
In spite of freezing temperatures and snow still on the ground, North Shore High School students took to the sidewalk on Feb. 4 to protest recent violence and unlawful detention and deportation of non-citizens and visa holders by Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents. Students held signs, waved flags and chanted statements like “the people united will never be defeated” for the hour-long protest during school.
The walkout was organized by seniors Isa Guerrero, Lila Frame and Luna Espinosa. More than 100 students participated, according to Guerrero, after her initial estimate that between 40 and 65 would turn out.
“I feel great,” Guerrero said in an interview. “I really think that I wasn’t expecting that many people, so it was really nice to feel like there was a response, and that people really care about this, because it’s so important.”
In advance of the protest, Guerrero cited in an email “violence, inhumanity and lack of accountability” from ICE as reasons for walking out. In an interview, she mentioned recent activity in Minnesota.
ICE has made thousands of arrests in Minnesota since the agency increased its activity there in January. Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Protests across the United States ramped up after U.S. citizen and intensive care nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. The deaths of both Pretti and Good have been ruled homicides by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.
“We just really wanted to work to call attention to the complete lack of accountability from ICE agents and our elected representatives,” Guerrero explained. “And just to demand more humane treatment and due process for people interacting with ICE.”
The organizers spread the word through flyers and social media. Junior Paolo Wang said he found out about the protest from friends and social media and that it was good for students to have their voices heard.
“I just think it’s unjust what’s happening,” he said. “And I think especially immigrants are a large part of the U.S.”
Students across the country have organized walkouts in recent weeks. Middle school, high school and college students in cities like New York, Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Baltimore are among those who have participated.
North Shore students originally coordinated with students at Port Washington’s Schreiber High School to walk out on Feb. 2. Schreiber students maintained that date, but those at North Shore rescheduled. They did not divulge the reason for rescheduling.
Guerrero and others met with administration in advance of the walkout to discuss student safety and ensure that consequences for cutting class would be clearly laid out. The district sent a letter to the community with information regarding safety, consequences for missing class, what students are permitted to do pertaining to protesting and what schools may legally restrict.
North Shore’s security team worked with the Nassau County Police Department to keep students safe. Police were present but did not intervene.
Superintendent Chris Zublionis wrote in a statement that students who participated followed parameters and were marked as cutting class. He emphasized that the school did not play a role in organizing the protest.
“Our students are really good kids navigating complex times,” Zublionis wrote. “They were respectful of the boundaries that we communicated to them and when finished, quickly got back to learning.”
Being marked as “cut” for missing a class during the walkout is the same punishment students would receive for skipping class for any other reason. Wang said that while he thought about the consequences, he felt that everyone’s willingness to face them showed the “greater importance” of the cause.
Frame wrote in a statement that some students were also concerned about social repercussions from friends and family. She added that she was not concerned about the consequences, social or academic.
“I myself am very confident in my political stance,” she wrote. “as I make it a point to remain educated on the facts around current events.”
ICE’s activity and agents have been at the center of recent discussions about policing at the national and local level. U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi faced backlash for voting in favor of a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that included more funding for ICE. Constituents protested outside Suozzi’s Glen Cove office on Feb. 2. He later publicly distanced himself from the vote.
Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” on Jan. 30, which would ban local jails and police from contracting with ICE to allow local police to function as ICE agents.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced his opposition to the act on Feb. 2.
