Whistles are San Francisco's latest bulwark against ICE

"Instead of M&M's and Kit Kats, he filled the ceramic skull by the entrance of his restaurant, Azúcar Lounge, with a few dozen metal whistles. Each day, patrons take a few whistles from the bowls. "It's a slow trickle," Ojinaga said. "We get a couple every day." Those whistles serve a practical purpose. Azúcar Lounge is one of several " whistle stops," local establishments handing out whistles to patrons to help them alert their neighbors to activity from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. By following the same whistle code, locals can communicate from afar: Three short whistles signal that ICE is nearby, and one long whistle means that somebody is being detained."

"Frameline, the nonprofit behind San Francisco's annual LGBTQ+ film festival, has stocked whistle stops in the city, with more than 200 whistles in recent weeks. Those stops include Azúcar Lounge in SoMa, Queer Arts Featured in the Castro, and the Roxie Theater and Mother bar in the Mission. In an email to SFGATE, Gabriella Siaton, the Roxie's theater manager, said the theater ran out of its first batch of whistles within a day of receiving them. "Prior to this, I had not heard about the whistle code," Siaton wrote. "I knew there were different sharings on social media regarding ICE agents being spotted in the Mission, but I appreciate how the whistle allows for a more instant and in-the-moment response." In recent months, whistles have become a popular tool of activists in Chicago, where an aggressive series of immigration crackdowns has targeted day cares and flea markets. In Chicago, whistles signal the presence of ICE or Customs and Border Protection agents, and some groups host meetups to assemble whistles. The sound of a whistle tells immigrants and other vulnerable"

Local businesses and venues distribute metal whistles to patrons to alert neighbors about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. Azúcar Lounge placed a ceramic skull filled with whistles at its entrance; patrons take a few daily. A shared whistle code enables distant communication: three short whistles signal ICE presence and one long whistle signals detention. Frameline supplied more than 200 whistles to stops including Azúcar Lounge, Queer Arts Featured, the Roxie Theater, and Mother bar. The Roxie ran out of its first batch within a day, and similar whistle campaigns and meetups have appeared in Chicago amid crackdowns.

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