Volunteers in Queens say communities are increasingly relying on whistles to warn neighbors of federal immigration activity after masked officers carried out street arrests in Corona earlier this month, according to a sprawling report from THE CITY.
According to Queens Neighborhoods United, officers detained seven Latino men in the New York neighborhood during a series of afternoon operations, prompting residents to sound whistles to alert others in real time.
Witnesses said officers appeared briefly and departed quickly before returning twice more. Volunteers distributed whistles and know-your-rights materials following the first sweep. “Short bursts indicate an ICE sighting. Long whistles indicate agents making arrests,” said Whitney Hu of South Brooklyn Mutual Aid to THE CITY, noting that the method is simple and widely understood across immigrant communities regardless of language group…