Students Join Nationwide Strike to Abolish ICE

NOVATO, California (01-31) – On January 30, thousands of people across the Bay Area and in cities nationwide joined a major daylong Free America Walkout strike, by rallying, marching, and protesting to demand the abolition of ICE and in resistance to President Trump’s immigration crackdown calling for an end to all ICE operations that have led to the deaths of two peaceful protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

In the small northern Marin County town of Novato, students walked out of their classrooms to join the nationwide strike, in solidarity with “No work, no school, no shopping” to protest the killings and kidnappings of immigrants by ICE. Participants demanded an end to ICE’s ongoing violent abuses and unlawful actions, condemning its defiance of the U.S. Constitution and the widespread turmoil it has caused across the country.

The Novato Unified School District and others countywide granted students permission to peacefully participate in the strike during a two-hour window in a show of support and solidarity with Minnesotans. The school district supported students wishing to participate allowing them to do so without penalty. Student participation also served as a live civic lesson in exercising First Amendment Rights.

Rallying outside of City Hall, the large number of student protesters from elementary to highschoolers chanted and held signs calling for ICE Out. One student held his handmade sign saying that “My dog is a better president.” Several others questioned the “humanity” of ICE regarding the kidnappings and killings while one noted “I Like My country Like I like my water, No ICE.”

Regarding the many controversies surrounding ICE, Indivisible Novato, along with other concerned citizens and human rights activists, have mounted a campaign of protests and direct actions calling on the County Board of Supervisors to “Stop the Sheriff from working with ICE.” The Marin County Sheriff’s Office, through its voluntary participation in the federal grant program, State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), has established a lucrative financial relationship by reaping a $1,000 payment for each “Captured Immigrant” who is turned over to ICE custody when released from jail.

SCAAP funding reimburses participating agencies in covering the costs incurred for salaries, training and incarceration of “undocumented criminal aliens.” To receive the funds, the personal information must be provided to the DOJ for each detainee. Many California cities have refused to cooperate in the program due to sanctuary policies that disallow such cooperation or on moral grounds.

According to activists, during the past three years the Marin County Sheriff’s Office has received $1.2 million for processing more than one thousand immigrants, while participating California law enforcement agencies statewide in 2024 collected $59.4 million according to a Congressional report released in 2025.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

© 2026 nuzeink all rights reserved worldwide