On the night of Sunday, Feb. 8, most teenagers in America might be found crowding the television to watch the Super Bowl — but for senior Kylie Stafford, that night was spent writing an email to her high school principal, Dr. Eric Cochran, requesting permission for a student walkout she hoped to organize. 

The walkout, which took place on Thursday, Feb. 19, aimed to speak out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and President Trump’s deportation agenda. Cochran officially authorized it after a February 10 meeting with him and other grade-level principals following Stafford’s email. 

“I want people to come together for a common goal, no matter their background, political party or who their friend group is. I think people need to realize their voice is important, even when it’s shaky,” Stafford said. “I hope everyone who is attending truly cares about the matter at hand and wants to raise awareness for what is happening.”

Stafford had first been inspired to organize the walkout when she heard a friend had organized a similar protest at a local Catholic high school, Nerinx Hall. According to Stafford, students craved a stronger way to voice their beliefs, and a walkout at Lindbergh could achieve that goal. Stafford hoped she and other participants could use the walkout to promote diversity and inspire a call to action.

“People need to know that I didn’t organize this protest for a pat on the back and a couple ‘thank yous.’ I organized this so people [I go to school with] can speak their mind, especially about ICE and their actions. Not everyone gets the chance to speak out and share their opinion,” Stafford said. “At the end of the day, we all bleed red. We are all humans. I am a firm believer in the people and what they are able to accomplish if they can come together and work as one.”

The walkout, which started at 11:50 pm and continued throughout Thursday’s PAC class, was first introduced to the student body after Stafford posted, “Other species migrate to survive. Only humans criminalize it,” on Instagram.

“To all Lindbergh students, I’m sure you have all seen what has been happening in the world and, in turn, the protests…on THURSDAY THE 19th, during PAC, we will hold our own [protest],” the post continued.

Lindbergh’s SRO had already notified police before the walkout that the protests would take place, according to another one of Stafford’s Instagram posts. 

Stafford also encouraged students who were unable to attend the walkout to support from the sidelines by wearing white clothing. 

“Everyone can do hard things, even when you think you can’t. The support this has received online is actually insane. Don’t stop talking about it. Even when it’s over, the fight still lives on every day. Please make sure you show up. Every person matters, even if you don’t think it will make a difference,” Stafford said. 

The Thursday walkout was only one of several anti-ICE efforts from Lindbergh students. On the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 30, some other students had gathered in the hallways and South Cafeteria to hand out flyers promoting a nationwide shutdown, also in protest of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“ICE OUT! …At the end of the day, WE have the power as the working class to SHUT THEM DOWN. For the good of everyone in the country, everyone you care about and everyone you hardly know, please spread the word. Divided we fall, but together we RISE! NATIONAL STRIKE TOMORROW!” the flyer read.

The nationwide shutdown, which included no work, school or shopping, was mainly organized by American students and immigration support organizations, according to the shutdown’s official website, nationalshutdown.org. Students enrolled in several metro-area schools, including Affton and Kirkwood public high schools, also held student-led walkouts as part of the January 30 protests.

Outside of the protests, an anonymous survey of 108 Lindbergh students found that 75.9 percent of respondents rated their perceptions of the current administration’s enforcement of immigration policy a one out of five. 

“I believe that how the current administration is dealing with immigration is a huge problem and there are so many better ways of dealing with it instead of going around and snatching people off the streets. Some of my non-white friends, who are legal citizens, feel scared from this…a lot of the [detained immigrants] have no choice, as the U.S. immigration process takes years,” a respondent said. “This needs to be fixed to make it easier for people who simply want a better life…the conditions at the detention centers and prisons are disgusting as well. It’s bad when American citizens are being killed over this.

According to several other survey responses, a lot of ICE’s unpopularity among students came from an increase in deportation numbers and the way enforcement agents have been believed to be treating immigrants. Since the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term, ICE deportations have increased around four times compared to the Biden administration, according to data from the Deportation Data Project. This is partially due to an increase in street arrests and the apprehension of immigrants without criminal records, the data further suggests. 

Some other frustrations have stemmed from Mr. Trump’s immigration court restructure. At the beginning of his term, nearly 100 immigration judges were removed, according to reporting from National Public Radio (NPR). Some say that fewer immigration judges could slow down the immigration process, or even indirectly accelerate the deportation process. 

A few survey respondents said the current administration’s handling of immigration might be a good thing, but that a lot of their frustrations come from the number of immigrants deported. According to these respondents, not enough has been done about the undocumented immigrants.

“ICE is [doing] a good job at deportation and protecting the southern border. Trump’s immigration policy is making illegal [immigrant] numbers go down significantly. But, I am [disappointed] with Trump’s promise of “mass deportation” when they have not even deported a million illegal immigrants. I really want Obama’s number deportation, and not in the thousands,” another survey respondent said.

Stafford said a few students supporting ICE also commented on her Instagram post promoting the walkout. According to Stafford, these comments were mainly hate comments, and many came from fake accounts.

“Personally, the hate comments don’t bother me at all…I understand everyone has their own opinion and there will always be two sides to every situation,” Stafford said. “Even though I am terrified to see how this will turn out, I also won’t let my fear stop me from standing up for what is right. If there were to be a counter-protest, I just hope both sides are able to remain peaceful.”

At Lindbergh, teachers and administrators have been working on how to address the protests. According to Cochran, this is not the first time students have led a walkout. 

“What we have done, in those cases, is that we don’t authorize or approve of those because we do feel like we want to do our best to try to maintain the order of the school and make sure that we’re doing our job of having it be a learning environment. But when students do take those types of actions, we respect that,” Cochran said.

Some other schools in the area have also been revisiting student protest policies. On Feb. 5, 2026, Superintendent Dr. Jason Kind of the Windsor school district issued a statement addressing the local walkouts.

“The Windsor C-1 School District has not organized, promoted, endorsed, supported or approved any walkout or protest…The district played no role in the creation or distribution of that material, and the presence of district-related imagery on it should not be interpreted as approval or involvement by the school district,” the statement said. “If a walkout were to occur, it would be student-led and not a school or district-sanctioned activity.”

Stafford did not mention plans for if limits on student protests were to be put in place at Lindbergh, but her goal with Thursday’s walkout was clear: to encourage students to unite and speak up for what she and they believe is right.

“I hope we can see someone who is different and love them rather than the opposite. ‘The only thing more powerful than hate is love.’” Stafford said.