Apopka High School students staged a walkout Friday afternoon to protest operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

At about 1:30 p.m., during seventh period, students left campus from the school’s bus loop and walked east on Martin Street toward Park Avenue. Once at Park Avenue, the group stood along the street chanting and holding signs before walking west on Martin Street. 

“While the district respects and values a student’s voice and civic engagement, any activity that causes campus disruption is not allowed under the Code of Student Conduct,” OCPS spokesman Michael Ollendorff said in an email to The Apopka Chief. “Our priority is maintaining a safe, orderly, and positive learning environment for all students. Per school administration, there was no disruption to campus and no protest occurred on school property.” 

Motorists driving along Martin Street signaled support by honking their horns, and some waved Mexican flags from vehicle windows. 

Students organized the walkout through the Instagram account @Apopka.Walkout, which states in its biography that it is not affiliated with Apopka High School or Orange County Public Schools. 

“We are proud of all of you for being brave and standing up for this cause,” a Friday post on the account stated. “Thank you all, especially to the Hope community center and Queers for Palestine.” 

The account also posted rules instructing participants to remain peaceful, avoid violence, stay off the roadway and remain together on the sidewalk, wait until everyone was off campus before protesting, carry appropriate signs, and remain orderly. 

The Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF), which is headquartered in Apopka, distributed a press release Thursday announcing the walkout. According to the release, the event was organized under the theme “ICE breaks not just laws, but families.” 

However, FWAF said the walkout was organized solely by students and not by the nonprofit. 

“While FWAF believes strongly in the importance of peaceful, civic participation especially for the youth, this event was not organized with our help or with our knowledge,” the statement said. “However, we hope that we can use our media contacts to give these kids the visibility they deserve for their efforts, especially for an issue that has impacted their lives and community so much.” 

The Apopka walkout was one of several student-organized ICE protests reported across the country Friday, including in Chicago, Illinois; Evansville, Indiana; Lawton, Oklahoma; and Prince William County, Virginia. Other walkouts were announced but not confirmed in media reports. 

Central Florida Public Media reported that Angel Velez, a Seminole County student organizer, said students from 10 high schools in Orange and Seminole counties planned to participate in Friday’s walkouts. 

“There’s a lot of young voices that need to be heard, and there’s a lot of people in Florida who come from families that are being targeted and being oppressed,” Central Florida Public Media reported Velez said. 

Since President Donald Trump’s second term began Jan. 20, 2025, ICE has conducted nearly 393,000 arrests nationwide as part of interior immigration enforcement operations, according to internal Department of Homeland Security data obtained by CBS News. 

The figures indicate that a majority of those arrested were not charged with violent crimes, with more than one-third having no criminal record and many apprehended for civil immigration violations.