LOGAN SQUARE – Hundreds of people showed up Tuesday night at events across the Northwest and West sides to assemble whistle kits that Chicagoans can use to alert neighbors when immigration enforcement agents are nearby.
Participants put together the kits that included a whistle, a Know Your Rights printout, a zine with instructions on how and when to use the whistle and rights cards that can be handed to an immigration officer if someone is detained. Ultimately, people helped pack more than 17,000 whistle kits that can help protect neighbors, said Alonso Zaragoza, one of the organizers and leader of Belmont Cragin United.
“It is amazing. We’re showing them in deeds and actions that we care about them, that the city of Chicago and our neighbors care about these individuals, even if the federal government doesn’t,” he said.
The events came as Chicagoans are increasingly looking for ways to peacefully resist federal operations Midway Blitz and At Large, immigration enforcement programs that kicked off in September.
Besides using whistles to alert neighbors when immigration agents are near, attendees were encouraged to join school ICE watch teams, do grocery store runs for neighbors who are afraid of leaving their homes and support local immigrant-owned businesses.
Jackie Walter, of Ukrainian Village, walked into the packed lobby of Intuit Healing, a therapy center at 2514 W. Armitage Ave. in Logan Square Tuesday night. Dozens of volunteers packed the room next door as one of the event’s organizers gave out instructions for assembling whistle kits.
A few minutes later, Walter was part of a team of eight people who sorted through printouts in English and Spanish and worked out the best way to fold them. After folding dozens of printouts, they placed them inside a plastic bag with an orange whistle.
Walter learned about Whistlemania after a friend shared the event in a songwriters and activists group chat and decided to join to “do something” about the federal administration’s intensified immigration enforcement operations, she said.
Walter’s friend, Mike Delgado, said he wanted to attend because “speaking out is just not enough.” Delgado and Walter recently participated in an ICE watch training.
“It’s our responsibility to watch out for each other,” Delgado said. “It’s important, being Latino or not, not letting kidnappings and abductions happen, not being complicit.”
Neighbors volunteered to assemble whistle kits at a Whistlemania meetup organized by Belmont Cragin United, as seen on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Francia Garcia Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Other Whistlemania events were in Hermosa, Avondale, Belmont Cragin, Portage Park and Austin.
About 70 volunteers coordinated the seven events, Zaragoza said. Each of the events hit their capacity limits soon after starting, Zaragoza said on social media.
Tuesday night’s events were organized after 400 people showed up last week to a whistle assembly meetup at Pozoleria El Mexicano, organized by Belmont Cragin United, Zaragoza said. All events were possible thanks to neighbors in and out of state who bought whistles through Belmont Cragin United’s Amazon Wishlist or donated via Venmo to help with printing costs and materials, he said.
“I thought we could do this again because there’s a need for the whistles, especially in our community, but also in other communities,” Zaragoza said.
A sign at the door of Intuit Healing informed volunteers the Whistlemania event held inside was at capacity after dozens of neighbors showed up to assemble whistle kits, as seen on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Francia Garcia Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
Jesse H., one of the lead organizers for the Logan Square Whistlemania event, volunteered to host a Logan Square event after attending last week’s Whistlemania in Belmont Cragin, she said. She joined the first event because it aligns with her values and it’s a “form of resistance, not only resistance against ICE, but also the current administration,” she said.
“It is a way to resist. It is a way to form community. It is a way to share information,” she said.
More than 1,000 people have been arrested during Operation Midway Blitz, Russell Hott, ICE field director in Chicago, told Block Club earlier this month. While claiming they are targeting the “worst of the worst,” ICE has repeatedly refused to provide information on the vast majority of the people it has taken in.
Over the past month, federal agents have shot at least two people, killing one; repeatedly tear-gassed protesters and first responders; shot rubber bullets at protesters; detained U.S. citizens, including children; smoke bombed and tear-gassed more than one Chicago street; fired a chemical weapon at a TV reporter and detained a journalist, among other incidents.
Cameron Lacy, owner of Intuit Healing, volunteered to host the event because she doesn’t want to “let another horrific moment in history happen in our neighborhoods,” she said.
“The minute that Black Hawk [helicopter] and ICE came into town, I think everything changed for every Chicagoan,” she said. “And the fact that we can actually do something, show our kids that they can do something and gather in safe ways that aren’t just going to a No Kings March is really valuable.”
A few minutes before 7 p.m., volunteers had finished packing over 1,000 whistle kits at the Logan Square meetup. Neighbors surpassed the initial goal of 700 kits thanks to additional donations of over 500 printouts and whistles made on the day of the event, Jesse H. said. Financial donations that were not needed to cover printing costs will be given to the Street Vendors Association of Chicago’s GoFundMe, she said.
Dozens of neighbors attend one of seven Whistlemania events organized by Belmont Cragin United on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Belmont Cragin United Facebook
The next Whistlemania meetups will likely be held in the suburbs, as concerned officials and neighbors there have asked Belmont Cragin United for support organizing the events, Zaragoza said.
Michelle MacPherson, an Arcadia Terrace neighbor who attended the Logan Square Whistlemania, said it is great that people show up in numbers and show the federal administration that “we’re not letting this happen.”
“If we’re able to do something that works, we’re setting up a blueprint for other cities,” she said.
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