‘Abolish ICE’: Students at Young Women’s Leadership Academy walk out in protest
Students at the Young Women’s Leadership Academy in downtown Fort Worth organized a walk-out Friday morning to protest recent shooting deaths by U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement agents.
The walk-out came in response to two Minneapolis residents being killed in Minnesota this month at the hands of ICE agents. The first, Renee Nicole Good, was fatally shot in her car by agents on Jan. 7, and the second, Alex Pretti, was fatally shot while being apprehended by more than a half dozens agents during a protest.
The Department of Justice reversed course Friday and opened a civil rights investigation into the killing of Pretti after initially labeling him as a domestic terrorist who had intent to harmfederal agents. Pretti was legally carrying a registered firearm at the time of his killing.
Outside the Young Women’s Leadership Academy at East Eighth and Jones streets, dozens of students took a lap around the brick building at 10:50 a.m., holding signs that read, “You don’t get to talk about what’s illegal when you voted for a felon,” and “We speak for those who can’t.” Another sign had the words “ICE” written in black with a large red “X” drawn over top.
The students also took turns chanting, with one leading the charge at the front of the line with a bullhorn, encouraging her peers to repeat her slogans.
“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go!”
“Oink, oink, piggy, piggy, we don’t want you in our city!”
Several students also held signs in Spanish, translated to “Abolish ICE” and “Families belong together.”
Young Women’s Leadership Academy has students in grades 6-12 and has an 85% minority population, with 65% of total students classifying as Hispanic and 20% as African-American. The school has a total enrollment of 436 girls. Almost 70% of students are considered economically disadvantaged, according to U.S. News & World Report statistics.
Twenty-three percent of students at the school also participate in Limited English Proficiency courses.
The school is considered highly-ranked academically, with 100% participation in Advanced Placement courses and above average proficiency in both reading and math compared to state averages, according to U.S. News & World Report. The school was given a near perfect rating in 2025 by U.S. News & World Report.
The school walk-out comes after recent citywide protests and marches against ICE in both Fort Worth and Dallas. On Jan. 8, several hundred people took to the street of downtown Dallas holding signs and chanting anti-ICE slogans. The next night, several hundred more did the same in Sundance Square in Fort Worth.
Hundreds of other schools and cities across the United States have organized similar walk-outs and anti-ICE protests in recent weeks and days. Those cities include New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle and dozens more.
This story was originally published January 30, 2026 at 1:15 PM.
