Social media users and netizens are livid after learning that the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers’ union in the United States, encouraged educators to “show solidarity” by participating in an anti-ICE protest.
The Libs of TikTok X account obtained an image of the flyer, which asked educators to wear blue on Friday, January 23, as part of a coordinated anti-ICE movement. The flyer also states that educators can share a selfie photo or video using the hashtag #ICEOutSchools to “demand ICE stay away from our schools.”
Additionally, NEA suggested that educators write to Congress and “demand” that the government designate schools, churches, and hospitals as protected spaces. The push comes as the Department of Justice investigates anti-ICE protestors who interrupted a Sunday service in St. Paul, Minn., this past weekend. The DOJ has said the protestors may have violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994.
The FACE Act prohibits protesters from using force against, obstructing, or attempting to intimidate anyone operating at reproductive health clinics or places of worship. As of January 2026, schools are not covered under the FACE Act.
“Another advertisement for homeschooling,” Libs of TikTok wrote.
The NEA, the largest teachers union in the US, is promoting an “ICE out” protest for students to wear blue to protest ICE and show solidarity with illegals in Minnesota
Another advertisement for homeschooling. pic.twitter.com/YxzbqoaKip
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 22, 2026
Other netizens expressed outrage over NEA’s flyer, with many echoing Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik’s promotion of homeschooling. As of January 2026, more than 3.7 million children in the United States — roughly 5.4% — are reportedly homeschooled.
“When the largest teachers union cares more about pushing anti-ICE rhetoric than teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, homeschool parents are over here like ‘told ya so’ while lesson-planning actual academics,” one X user commented.
Another added, “This is how our schools indoctrinate all the time. It is also illegal. Shut off school federal funding. We should not, as taxpayers, be forced to fund our nation’s demise.”
The NEA had not commented publicly or responded to Raichik as of publication. NEA President Becky Pringle has previously accused ICE of creating “fear and trauma.”
There should be a new law passed that prohibits school teachers from bringing their politics into the classroom. The kids can be allowed to show their own politics but teachers must be neutral. https://t.co/e3CxZ9U2bT
— Morticia (@Morticia121212) January 22, 2026
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday that nearly three million illegal aliens have left the United States since Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025. That figure reportedly includes an estimated 2.2 million self-deportations and more than 675,000 deportations. More than 10,000 of those criminal illegal migrants have been apprehended in Minnesota.
Noem has featured many of the recent arrestees on her official X page, including a significant number who had previously been arrested, charged, or convicted of felonies ranging from crimes against children to assault and battery.
“They’re trying so hard to terrify their students, the students’ parents, and the whole community,” read one response to Raichik. “They completely ignore all the victims of illegal alien crime.”
The NEA reports that it represents more than three million educators across more than 14,000 communities nationwide.
