This Wednesday, February 4, 2026, hundreds of B-CC students participated in a walkout at 10:00 AM to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Students gathered at the front of the school, then marched to the East-West Highway entrance of the school. Many
students appeared with self-made signs, flags, and banners. Some read “We’re Skipping Our Lessons To Teach You One,” or “My Parents Work Harder Than Our President.”
The mobilization followed recent ICE actions that have caused uproar across the U.S. Once the students made their way to the front lawn, multiple speakers delivered speeches calling for change. Around 11 AM, roughly half of the protesting students returned to class, while others made their way down to Bethesda Row to continue the protest. Montgomery County Police followed the students as they walked along East-West Highway, escorting them to safety.
Numerous cars passed by, with drivers honking in apparent support of the protest against ICE; the crowd of students cheered in response.
B-CC freshman Feven Gebremariam shared her thoughts on the reason why she was protesting: “We need to protest against ICE…I feel like a lot of schools, not just ours, are [protesting] and getting the message across, so this is really important.” Other students seemed to agree, as junior Francesca Alvarado said, “I’m out here because I feel like, being a part of my community, I need to come out and support this protest.”
School Principal Kevin Yates addressed the walkout in a community-wide message sent on Wednesday, after the protest. Yates stated that the protest was not school-sanctioned, and students were not excused from class. He also shared that school administrators had been made aware earlier in the day of a possible student walkout and took the precautions necessary, saying that student safety was the school’s top priority.
The protest had a significant turnout and successfully maintained peace. Many students advocated against ICE while holding their home country’s flags, representing their undeniable importance in all communities. Others held signs that cleverly referenced TikTok trends and slang, for instance, “ICE Call Yo Uber.”
Senior Maayan Blumberg reiterated why she, like other students, had been out protesting: “We’ve seen some crazy things in the news recently, and I think that we all just need to bring a little more awareness to it in our area. ICE needs to be gone. Get ICE out of our city.”
