FUDGE ICE!: Protests on Roblox

Daniella Canseco

While scrolling on TikTok from my apartment in Scotland, a meme came across my feed: an anti-ICE protest... but on Roblox. It featured digital characters holding up signs that said “FUDGE ICE,” “Chinga la Migra,” and “We hate ICE!”. I chuckled, liked, and scrolled. Not because I didn’t agree, but because of the absurdity of a serious protest unfolding inside a children’s video game. The next day, my feed was flooded with images of protests as the situation intensified following the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. Anti-ICE sentiment resonates deeply with me because half of my family immigrated from Mexico, including my dad. I was also born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, a city full of good, hard-working immigrants — and now one of many cities terrorized by ICE. 

While videos of massive crowds of protestors were incredibly impactful, it was the smaller communities taking a stand that stuck with me –  particularly footage of an elementary school class holding up signs and chanting against ICE.

I thought of the children and the Roblox protest I saw online and realized how insane it truly was, especially when compared to protests of the past. The earliest protest ever recorded was in Egypt in 1152 BCE. The royal tomb workers during the reign of Ramesses III hadn’t been paid their grain rations, so they stopped working, marched to the temples, and publicly complained to their officials. This was the first ever recorded strike, which is particularly significant for its peacefulness, organization, and state-aimed nature. By the late 19th century, US activists were already challenging deportations, ethnic exclusion laws, and harsh labor conditions for migrants. This was one of the first times in the US that people publicly argued that immigrants deserved rights, safety, and belonging, and should be valued for more than just their labor. The act of protesting is so ancient, and pro-immigration ideas are not new, but the way in which they’re staged has changed radically: from physical laborers withdrawing work in ancient Egypt to animated avatars staging demonstrations in digital worlds.

This shift alone is fascinating, but even more so is the fact that this game is made primarily for children.

A protest against ICE happening inside Roblox is absurd – maybe even funny. But that absurdity is what makes it so powerful. It signals that political outrage over our immigration system has become so pervasive that it is spilling into spaces never intended for politics, including spaces for children. Yet this does not appear out of nowhere, as it is a direct digital mirror of the real-world climate these children inhabit.

Political expression within a children’s game is also quietly hopeful: children can participate in political protest without needing to physically face potential danger. They can avoid large crowds, police lines, and the risk of being near ICE assholes in real life. Instead, they can gather and express their beliefs digitally in a form of play. Roblox therefore reshapes political resistance within our country’s youth to a safe and more accessible manner for those who would’ve otherwise been excluded from more traditional forms of protest.

Additionally, having children participate in these protests challenges a widely believed assumption that political and social awareness belong only to adults. Yes, children may lack fluency in immigration law, but they are far from ignorant of its consequences. They see family members being taken from their homes, friends suddenly missing, teachers being detained, and their classrooms disrupted. Tear gas drifting near preschools and unarmed people being shot in places they call home are not abstractions, but scenes that are actively being absorbed and processed by children. How could they not be?

With the events of our current world in mind, protest can be seen as not a learned  ideology but an instinctive response to perceived injustice. The video of an elementary school class protesting captures this shift: children resisting our current climate, not because they fully understand its system, but because they understand the fear, loss, confusion, and solidarity it summons.

Protesting has existed for millennia, but its form is continually evolving. Yes, the “ICE Out” strikes across the country are like those in ancient Egypt, but protests expanding to pixels and “iPad kids” is something uniquely contemporary. 

Roblox protests are not merely a meme, but a symptom of our modern world, and a merit to our country’s children.