Whistle Brigades Work
ICE alert whistles are here, Oregon! It doesn’t take much to help keep your community safe -- a whistle, a few deep breaths, and the decision to care out loud.✔️ Know the codes: three short vs. one long. Learn it, carry it, use it.
✔️ When you hear it, don’t freeze. Step outside if it’s safe, document, record, blow your whistle, and make sure no one is alone.
✔️ In Oregon, call or text PIRC at 1-888-622-1510 to alert rapid response and immigrant rights teams.
✔️ Post a "Taken Here" notice where someone is detained to remember and forewarn.The whistles turn community fear into action, and isolation into connection.
Why Whistles?
Across Chicago, communities have been using whistles to help keep each other safe. When ICE "agents" are spotted, the whistles ring out: three short chirps means ICE is nearby, or one long note if someone is being detained.The sound brings neighbors out of their homes to witness and document. Allies gather. Reports are made to local immigrant rights groups. ICE kidnappings no longer happen quietly.It’s working. Early warnings are creating time for at-risk neighbors to seek safety and for allies to come outside and document the scene and gather needed info to report to immigrant rights groups.Chicago showed it works. We can too.
Video credit: @ParkrosePermaculture
Migra Whistle Kits
Each kit includes
- One Whistle with lanyard (yarn or string)
- One Zine - reversible and bilingual (Spanish & English) when printed doubled-sided
- One PIRC hotline insert (1/4 page)
How To Make Kits
1. Download the whistle kit files below. Included are printable instructions, zines, PIRC hotline flyers (for Oregon), and the whistle 3D printer *.stl file (you can also buy whistles in bulk online—just make sure they are LOUD).2. Print the zine that explains the whistle codes. You can print 100 pages per day for free at most libraries. Make sure you print double-sided to use the bilingual (English & Spanish) and reversible zine.3. Host a zine-folding party with friends. Ask them to bring yarn for lanyards and scissors.4. Assemble the kits and bundle them up with the lanyard or put it in a zip top bag. Package into batches of 25 kits.5. Give whistle kits away for FREE! Distribute your kits to the most at-risk communities first, or get your kits to us to distribute for you!Keep the message alive—protect each other, stay loud, and stay connected!
Downloads // Whistle Kits
This site contains info for Oregon, but feel free to download, print, and remix them for your own neighborhood or state.(mobile downloads: long press on the buttons below.)
Downloads // Resources
Here's a few more resources we wanted to share with you. These do not need to be included in the whistle kits but it's good info to share.
Spread the Word
Not everyone can be in the streets blowing a whistle on ICE, but the network grows in other ways too. You can:
✔️ Drop a handful of whistle kits in a community fridge or free library
✔️ Share the whistle codes online
✔️ Share our website or social media
✔️ Explain whistle codes at local gatherings
✔️ Talk to your neighbors and make a community safety plan together
✔️ Tell a friend who tells a friend. Every echo helps. Every whistle makes the network stronger.Keep the message alive—protect each other, stay loud, and stay connected!
These materials were created by the community for the community. Special thanks to @pilsenartscommunityhouse in Chicago for their generosity!