New York City School Under Fire For Having Kindergartners Hold Up Anti-ICE Signs And Made To Protest In The Classroom

A New York City school is under fire after a viral video showed what critics say was an anti Immigration and Customs Enforcement-style protest staged inside a classroom filled with kindergarten aged children holding protest signs.

The video, shared Sunday by Libs of TikTok, was filmed last Friday at the Chloe Day School and Wellness Center in Harlem and coincided with an activist-organized “National Shutdown Day.” Instead of closing the school or allowing staff to participate off campus, administrators appeared to bring the protest directly into a kindergarten classroom.

In the clip, school director Dr. Sanayi Beckles Canton stands before a group of young children and staff, explaining why the demonstration was taking place indoors. She told the class it was too cold to protest outside and said teachers could not walk off the job and leave students unsupervised. As a result, she said, the school decided to show solidarity with those protesting what she described as violence and harm happening to their friends.

Several kindergarteners can be seen seated nearby, some holding protest signs while others listen as Beckles Canton asks students to share their feelings about what they want to see changed in the U.S. government. One sign visible in the background, held by a teacher, reads “We are stronger together.”

One child spoke about children being “taken away from their families,” a phrase commonly associated with immigration activism. Beckles Canton then led the children through a call and response exercise, prompting them to complete sentences about what they want to see stop, starting with the word “hating,” before leading the group to chant “enough is enough.”

Although ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and President Donald Trump are not mentioned by name in the video, critics argue the message is unmistakable. References to nationwide protests, immigration related talking points, and the decision to stage an indoor demonstration instead of going outside strongly suggest the gathering functioned as an anti ICE protest.

The involvement of kindergarteners has fueled much of the backlash. Parents and critics argue that children of that age are too young to understand complex immigration policy and should not be placed in the middle of political demonstrations, especially during instructional time. Many questioned why protest signs were placed in the hands of five-year-olds at all.