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

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."

Washington state has seen an increase in immigration arrests. MacFarlane stumbled upon the project after doomscrolling on social media. She said she went down an "internet rabbit hole" and saw how whistles were becoming an effective way to alert people when ICE agents were in an area in other cities.

The idea originally started in Los Angeles and was popularized in Chicago. Seeing how these small noise makers hadn't reached Seattle, MacFarlane started the project as a tangible way to help immigrant communities.

"It's shocking the extent to which these masked, armed federal agents are invading [immigrant] communities and just terrorizing them, grabbing people, throwing tear gas," MacFarlane said about ICE tactics in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland. "It's very scary."

There are reports that ICE tactics are becoming more violent. Recently, a man in Chicago was fatally shot by an ICE agent, a woman in a New York courthouse was shoved to the ground by an ICE agent, and tear gas and excessive force were used on protesters in Portland.

While the threat of immigration enforcement in Seattle has not escalated to the same level as other cities in the U.S. such as Los Angeles, Chicago, or Portland, local leaders have started to prepare for the possibility of federal troops being deployed to Seattle.

This time has allowed community members to prepare with efforts, like the whistle project, in the event of increased immigration enforcement.

Whistles are both easy to use and cost-effective. The sound of a whistle can easily alert people when ICE is nearby, and buying the whistles in bulk or 3D printing them can be affordable. Organizers encourage people to wear the whistle regularly so they're prepared for an ICE sighting.

People have come together to help out in different ways, whether it's 3D printing hundreds of whistles, translating zines into different languages, or throwing weekly "whistle-making parties" at Common Power to assemble the kits.

While the campaign began a few weeks ago, it has picked up traction. MacFarlane said other people across the state, such as in Snohomish, Thurston, and Kitsap counties, started their own whistle efforts. So far, more than 1,500 whistles have been distributed.

In South Seattle, whistles have been distributed at Skyway Farmers Market. Cherryl Jackson-Williams, one of the organizers of the market, said whistles brought people who are "concerned for the safety of their neighbors" together. The kits were all taken within an hour.

When distributing the whistles, people asked Jackson-Williams for training on how to use them. She held an impromptu training at the farmers market where everyone blew their whistles at the same time.

"I was laughing, because I was like, 'I can't even believe you guys are having me do this in the middle of a farmers market,'" Jackson-Williams said, adding that people of all backgrounds and ages were participating. "That's a beautiful outcome, the idea of being together and feeling safe."

Jackson-Williams encourages people to be aware of their surrounding environment and to go with their instinct.

MacFarlane said people she's never met have dropped off hundreds of whistles on her doorstep to support the project. She said she hopes to have boxes in businesses and community centers for people to drop off their whistles. Her goal is to see everyone in the state have a whistle and that people see the idea, gather the materials, and just "run with it."

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