Flagstaff Schools’ Handling of Student Anti-ICE Walkout Under Investigation

A public records request has been filed by attorneys with America First Legal seeking records related to the Flagstaff Unified School District’s handling of a January 28, 2026, anti-ICE protest involving hundreds of students.

According to America First Legal (AFL), school employees walked approximately 800 students from multiple district schools across busy intersections to Flagstaff City Hall, more than 1 mile away. The students then lined the sidewalk, holding signs with anti-ICE messages. Alarmingly, FUSD neither requested parental consent nor notified parents that their children would be leaving school grounds to attend the protest. AFL is investigating because the anti-ICE protest appears to have been organized in advance, and FUSD had time to prepare a coordinated response.

AFL says that to date, FUSD has not publicly explained when it first learned of the protest or what consequences students faced for leaving class and school grounds. Nor has it explained to what extent, if any, school employees were involved in coordinating or assisting the students. To ensure compliance with federal law and the Arizona Parents’ Bill of Rights, AFL is requesting:

• All records reflecting FUSD employees who organized or participated in the anti-ICE protest.
• All records relating to FUSD’s response to the anti-ICE protest.
• All records pertaining to how students and staff members who left school property during the anti-ICE protest were later processed back onto school property the same day.

AFL attorneys argue that parents have the fundamental, constitutional right to control and direct the education of their children.

AFL attorneys believe the investigation raises serious questions about whether that right was respected when hundreds of students were allowed and seemingly enabled to leave campus during the school day without parental consent.

“Parents do not surrender their rights at the schoolhouse gate,” said James Rogers, Senior Counsel at America First Legal. “When hundreds of students are permitted to leave campus during the school day for a political protest, families deserve complete  transparency about who approved it, how it was supervised, and why parents were not notified.”

“Schools exist to educate children, not to sideline parents, and certainly not to indoctrinate students,” said Rachael Griffin, Attorney at America First Legal. “This investigation seeks basic answers about how this political protest was handled and whether the district respected parental rights and the rule of law. America First Legal will bring the truth into the light.”