A Fistful of Loud: Seattle Neighbors Build Whistle Kits to Protect Immigrants From ICE

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https://southseattleemerald.org/news/2025/11/06/a-fistful-of-loud-seattle-neighbors-build-whistle-kits-to-protect-immigrants-from-ice

A Fistful of Loud: Seattle Neighbors Build Whistle Kits to Protect Immigrants From ICE

Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero
Published on:
Nov 05, 2025, 4:06 pm

Whistles are threaded with yarn at a table so they can be worn around the neck. Others pack small bags with directions on how to use them if they see U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in their area. These neighbors put these kits together every week to be distributed across the community to protect people from immigration enforcement.

Whistles have become a simple, cheap, and instant way to signal when ICE agents are nearby and warn people vulnerable to being detained.

If whistles are heard, organizers urge people to follow the noise, form a nonviolent but loud whistling crowd, record any ICE agent activity, and text those details to the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network's (WAISN) deportation defense hotline.

"By making noise, you bring visibility to what is happening on the street," said Kate MacFarlane, who started the WA Whistles project. "ICE relies on shock tactics and moving in very quickly … it turns [an] otherwise pretty silent abduction into a loud, highly visible opportunity for neighbors to rally."

… more … traditional and 3D printed… translating instructions…