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Photo by Clara Estan

At 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, FHS students walked out of their fifth-period classes, gathered at the intersection of Fremont Avenue and Sunnyvale-Saratoga and walked down Sunnyvale-Saratoga to City Hall in protest of President Trump’s immigration policy and recent actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). HHS and SMS students joined them, with HHS students beginning their walkout at 11:15 a.m. and spending roughly an hour and a half walking to FHS before heading to City Hall. The protest had a significant turnout, uniting an estimated 700 to 1,000 people.

HHS seniors Brian Sanchez and Imaan Syed first organized and promoted the walkout on the @southbaystudents4justice Instagram account two days prior. FHS senior Penelope Carrasco joined in promoting the protest on the @latinxsupportunion Instagram account the following day. Organizers also communicated plans to the city of Sunnyvale. Each organizer felt strongly motivated to speak out about this cause.

“We hope that the government sees that we’re not just going to let whatever is happening in the world, just go by,” Carrasco said. “We’re going to use our voices to speak up and we’re going to fight for what’s right.”

Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein, Victoria Pham, on behalf of the CA District 26 Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, and Syed presented speeches to the protestors. At 12:55 p.m., Klein began his speech emphasizing his gratitude for the courage of the protestors before passing the megaphone to Pham.

“Sunnyvale is a welcoming city,” Klein said. “Everyone is welcome here no matter your race, no matter where you’re from. I’m proud of our city, I’m proud of all of you.”

Pham commended the protesters for their courage to demand change and expressed her office’s support for their cause. 

“Stay strong, stay united, and keep pushing for the change that you wish to see,” Pham said.

Syed followed Klein and Pham’s speeches with a longer speech explaining her background as an immigrant and the urgent importance of the students’ protest. She expressed her pride in her fellow students and encouraged them to stay strong, leading chants of  “ICE out,” “melt ICE” and “the students united will never be divided.”

“I chose to participate because I’m an immigrant myself, and it means a lot to me to make sure immigrant rights are protected, because this country was founded on immigrants, and it continues to be run on immigrants,” Syed said. “If immigrant lives don’t matter, then who does, because we’re all immigrants to this country in the first place.”

One central motivation for organizing the walkout was Jan. 30, when several schools in the Bay Area held similar walkouts. FHS notably lacked participation in these walkouts, despite its large Hispanic population of 44% and past activism regarding immigration policies. 

“People know about San Jose, Redwood [City], Palo Alto, but not [many] know about Sunnyvale,” Sanchez said. “I want us to be known, and I hope ICE sees this on their screens at home and they see that we’re not going to let this happen.”

The rumored possibility of an ICE presence at the Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, this Sunday, Feb. 8, caused fear in communities at FHS. Yesterday, Feb. 3, the NFL asserted that the federal security presence this Sunday will be consistent with past Super Bowls and that ICE officers will not be present, according to ESPN. Klein still addressed this possibility, clarifying Sunnyvale’s intention to keep ICE from “terrorizing” its citizens.

“We, from an ICE standpoint, have strong policies that we’re not sharing information with them, that we’re not assisting them, that we’re not enforcing immigration policies here in our city,” Klein said.

Sunnyvale police and FUHSD administration ensured students’ safety during the walkout. Administration members, including FHS principal Bryan Emmert and FHS vice principal Andy Walczak, supervised the protest, keeping students safely contained on the sidewalks. Police operated intersections and directed traffic.

Emmert sent out an email to all staff last Thursday morning, Jan. 29 in anticipation of a walkout, outlining school policy. Notable policies include not permitting employees to join in the walk out; staff allowing students to walk out, but marking them absent; and not penalizing students for leaving. On Monday, Feb. 2, Emmert reminded staff about school policy regarding ICE sightings.

“As we have shared before, if any of you encounter immigration officers (ICE) or any other deputized entity coming onto campus and/or requesting to meet with students – you can call 4444 immediately so that I or a member of the admin team can be involved,” Emmert wrote. “You should not grant anyone access to our students or our campus. If you see other unfamiliar adults coming onto campus without a visitor’s badge, please direct them to check in at the main office.”

Other FHS students expressed similar ideas, echoing the need for unity and support. FHS senior and founder of the newly formed FHS Anti-Fascist Social Club Aster Moore spoke about how historically, fascist regimes target one marginalized group at a time, and expressed worry that the current U.S. government is following the same pattern. 

“I’m a transgender man, and there’s this poem that was written during World War II called ‘First They Came’ and I think about it a lot, because I know that people are coming after Latinos and immigrants, and I know that I’m next on the list, so it’s important that we speak out before it gets to the point of a reenaction of the Holocaust,” Moore said. 

Additionally, FHS senior Andy Montano Sanchez expressed his feelings about the protest and speaking out.

“It’s really amazing how we as teenagers, we have rights and speaking out, it’s really, really amazing,” Sanchez said. “Hopefully, after this, something [changes] in the government’s actions.”

Despite the protest’s large turnout, future action still remains unclear. Syed expressed the results she desires from the walkout.

“I hope to see a lot more money coming to education instead of funding ICE, because that’s our main ask, that schools be funded instead of deporting children and removing them from school, because [we want] education, not deportation,” Syed said. “And we hope students continue to do demonstrations like this more and more so we can keep using and hearing student voices.”

Klein similarly conveyed the importance of students making their voices heard.

“Democracy doesn’t begin when you’re 18 and it’s your turn to vote,” Klein said. “It’s standing up for what’s right in your community, and that’s what all the students are doing here today.”