Anti-ICE Protests Involving Students Draws Paxton Demand (1)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is demanding answers from Austin public schools after students cut class to attend protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations last week.

The school district must produce internal communications regarding the Jan. 30 walkouts as part of a broader request for documents, Paxton announced Monday. Paxton also wants information on the school’s security protocols and excused absence policies.

“Parents expect our public schools to educate and keep their kids safe during the school day, not encourage them to attend a protest field trip designed to villainize brave law enforcement officials protecting our country,” Paxton said in a press release.

The statement accuses district officials of using tax dollars to impose “their radical political agenda on the next generation.” Citing unspecified reports, Paxton says district employees in some instances facilitated students’ departure from campus.

In all, students from 14 campuses skipped classes to attend the protests, which followed the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by Border Patrol agents.

In a statement, the school district said the protests were “entirely initiated and organized by students” and that staff didn’t “facilitate or encourage students’ participation or departure from campus.”

Paxton’s investigation comes days after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said he directed Mike Morath, the state’s education commissioner, to investigate the student participation in the protests.

“AISD gets taxpayer dollars to teach the subjects required by the state, not to help students skip school to protest,” Abbott said on the day of the protests in a post on X.

Paxton investigated the Austin district last year over claims that it was teaching critical race theory, which the state banned. The probe ended before the filing of a lawsuit when the district agreed to direct all staff to comply with the law, which prohibits instruction that an individual is inherently racist based on their race.