Thousands of LBUSD students walk out of class as part of national protest against the Trump Administration’s violent anti-immigrant operations in Minneapolis.
Students walk along Atlantic Avenue towards Downtown Long Beach as part of a nationwide protest against the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant operations in Minneapolis Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Photo by Brandon Richardson
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Thousands of Long Beach Unified School District middle and high school students walked out Friday morning in protest of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement across the country.
Demonstration organizers called for “no work, no school, no shopping” across the country on Friday to show outrage against the anti-immigrant crackdown in Minneapolis.
Students walk along Atlantic Avenue towards Downtown Long Beach as part of a nationwide protest against the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant operations in Minneapolis Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. Photo by Brandon Richardson
Tensions across the country have risen dramatically over the last month as federal immigration agents, who in many cases violently abduct individuals and families, have also killed multiple people. Countless other protesters have been assaulted.
The most recent people killed by federal agents in Minneapolis were two legal observers – Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 27, both of whom were American citizens. Bystander video recordings of both killings instantly went viral, with many calling both shootings blatant cases of murder.
According to an LBUSD spokesperson, about 3,000 students walked out of schools across the city.
In the above video, dozens of students who walked out of Hughes middle and Jordan high schools can be seen walking through Bixby Knolls, southbound on Atlantic Avenue, toward Downtown. Students from around the district met up at City Hall.
“We recognize that recent events and national conversations around immigration enforcement are deeply personal and causing fear, uncertainty, and emotional distress for many in our community,” the LBUSD spokesperson said in an email. “We stand in solidarity with our immigrant students and families and remain unwavering in our commitment to protecting every student’s dignity, safety, and right to learn.”
The district, however, encouraged students to remain in class, saying the schools “are safe, welcoming spaces where students belong, and we continue to encourage opportunities for students to express their voices in ways that keep them supervised and supported on campus.”
The spokesperson added that the district does not collect or share immigration status of students or allow federal agents on its campuses without federal warrants.
In a social media post, Mayor Rex Richardson voiced his support for the students.
“Peaceful protest is their constitutional right, and we stand with them,” he wrote. “Protest is not a disruption of democracy. It is a constitutional right at the heart of it.”
Anthony Pignataro contributed to this report.
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Brandon Richardson is an editor, photographer and reporter for the Watchdog. If this work is important to you, please thank him.
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