New Mexico Student AI Walkout Targets Data Centers

Students across New Mexico walked out of class on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in a coordinated protest against the spread of AI data centers and a federal permitting bill they say would fast-track the projects. The New Mexico student AI walkout, called Pull the Plug on AI, was organized by Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, a youth climate group known as YUCCA. Demonstrations took place in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, where students and young activists marched on government offices and demanded that lawmakers put residents ahead of data centers, pipelines and fossil fuel projects.

A statewide walkout in three cities

In Albuquerque, students at the University of New Mexico rallied outside Scholes Hall before joining more than 100 marchers at the UNM Bookstore, according to New Mexico Political Report. The crowd marched down Central Avenue to the downtown office of United States Senator Martin Heinrich, carrying signs and chanting against the senator and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. The march was one of the largest single actions of the day, and it ended with a rally outside Heinrich's office.

Chants heard in downtown Albuquerque were aimed directly at Heinrich, according to local television coverage, with marchers calling the senator a corporate sellout and shouting shame on him as they moved through the streets. The tone matched the signs carried outside his office, where one speaker addressed the crowd in front of a placard reading Heinrich is a sellout.

In Santa Fe, students at the New Mexico School for the Arts walked out of class and marched from their school to the Santa Fe Plaza and on to the Roundhouse, according to a second local report. They packed the halls of the capitol building and the lobby outside the governor's office, where they wrote handwritten letters. State Representatives Micaela Lara Cadena and Tara Lujan attended the rally, the report said.

In Las Cruces, young people rallied at the Downtown Civic Plaza in Dona Ana County. The location matters to organizers because Texas-based company Oracle is building Project Jupiter, a hyperscale data center campus, in nearby Santa Teresa. For the students there, the fight is local as well as statewide: the campus would sit close to their own communities, and they argue its demand for water and power would fall on residents.

The bill at the center of the protest

The bill at the center of the protest is the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, backed by Heinrich. Organizers say the measure would weaken environmental protections and tribal consultation and would let corporations sue when their projects are denied. Heinrich introduced the bill with Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. It would speed federal permits for solar farms, power lines and oil and gas pipelines, narrow environmental reviews and limit litigation to federal courts. It would also require data centers drawing 20 megawatts or more to cover their transmission costs. Solar and gas industry groups back the deal, while Earthjustice and the Sierra Club oppose it.

A spokesperson for Heinrich defended the bill to New Mexico Political Report before the walkouts, pointing to provisions the senator fought to include. The spokesperson said the bill is the only measure in Congress that forces data centers to pay their fair share for the energy they use, shifting that cost away from families. The bill also holds data centers accountable for their energy use while speeding approval of clean energy projects, the spokesperson said, which would mean lower utility bills and more jobs.

The walkout capped a three-day convening in Las Cruces over the weekend. YUCCA says the gathering drew people from twenty organizations to build a coordinated campaign for a statewide data center ban. Some students also raised concerns about AI in the classroom itself. One student told a local television station that a few of her professors want students to use artificial intelligence, which she called unfortunate because she wants humans to stay creative. Another student said it is hard to move between classes that disagree on whether AI use is welcome. The New Mexico student AI walkout, organizers say, opens a longer statewide campaign for a data center ban.

Full reporting on the walkout is available from a second local report and from New Mexico Political Report. Related student protest coverage includes a school walkout demanding a freeze on AI and student protests in France that continued after government concessions.