‘ICE melts in Texas’: Saginaw Boswell students protest Tarrant ICE activity
Students at Boswell High School in north Fort Worth held an anti-ICE protest Monday evening, just a week after students at the school walked out of class, leading the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district to discipline students.
Monday’s protest started at 4:25 p.m., after school hours unlike last week’s walkout, so organizers and participants wouldn’t run the risk of punishment from the district again.
The protest came in response to ICE activity in Tarrant County and two Minneapolis residents being killed last month at the hands of ICE agents. Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot in her car on Jan. 7, and Alex Pretti was fatally shot Jan. 24 while being apprehended by agents during a protest.
Students gathered on the edge of Boswell High School property, across the street from the Effie Center at around 4:15 p.m. and handed out signs and megaphones before taking off up Bailey Boswell Road. The protesters stopped at a Kroger and held signs to cars passing by, then turned back around down Bailey Boswell Road and headed back to Boswell High.
The protest, which students estimated would include “several hundred people,” ended up being closer to roughly 100. It lasted for over two hours.
“As a community, our fellow classmates and families have felt unsafe in our own community due to the recent violent ICE activity and their illegal actions in Minnesota,” said Brody Jones, a senior at Boswell High and protest organizer. “ICE has a large presence in Tarrant and Denton County, and it has forced people throughout these areas to live in immense fear for their lives.”
Students held signs that read: “Immigrants Make America Great”; ‘Abolish ICE”; and “ICE melts in Texas.”
As the group left school property after being told by police officers they weren’t allowed to stay in the parking lot any longer, the students marched up Bailey Boswell Road chanting, “Keep families together,” and “the students united will never be defeated.”
When the group of protesters arrived at the Kroger, about a 28-minute walk from the starting point, they chanted and interacted with drivers who passed by, many of them honking their car horns in support.
“I am protesting because the things ICE is doing is so wrong and no one should ever go through anything that they are doing to people,” said Noelle Rios, a student at Boswell High. “Immigrants are humans and why should they get treated differently because of their skin tones?”
The protest by Boswell students also comes after dozens of students were told they would be receiving disciplinary action from Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school district for their participation in last week’s walkout, which occurred at around 10 a.m. after Boswell’s first period.
Students at Boswell told the Star-Telegram that school administrators helped organize their walkout and shared tips on how to stay safe throughout the protest. Video obtained by the Star-Telegram showed Principal Ryan Wilson telling student it was “on him” if they did not feel safe using their right to protest in “something they care deeply about.”
But now, students said they’re confused by punishment and discipline they’ve received by the district for participation in the walkout, especially after Wilson gave them tips on how to stay safe and didn’t stop them from holding the walkout. Some students were told they could lose their senior prom or the ability to walk the stage at graduation.
Monday’s protest was notably not during school hours. Last week the Texas Education Agency issued new guidance on student-led walkouts as hundreds occurred across the state.
TEA said that students must be marked absent if they participate in walkouts and schools risk losing daily attendance funding if they allow or encourage students to walk out of class. They agency said teachers who facilitate walkouts will be subject to investigation and possible sanctions could include revoking their licenses.
“Students who expressed their First Amendment right were threatened with discipline,” Jones said. “Many students were punished unfairly and the school’s administrators across the district have now been speaking against our attempts to peacefully protest on school grounds.”
Jones started Monday’s protest by stressing to attendees to stay civil, peaceful and not to get anyone hurt. He also told them to ignore any potential counter-protesters.
Despite pressure from the school district, TEA, State Board of Education and even Gov. Greg Abbott, students at Boswell don’t have any plans to quiet down. Other schools in the district could have more protests planned in the coming days and weeks. On, Saginaw High School held a protest after school hours.
“It is wonderful to see how far influence for change has reached, even for such horrific circumstances,” said Percy Dunning, a student at Boswell High. “It is important to utilize platforms and the community we have for real change and real action.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 7:14 PM.
