Chicagoans have turned to a novel piece of tech that marries the old-school with the new to warn their communities about the presence of ICE officials: 3D-printed whistles.
The goal is to “prevent as many people from being kidnapped as possible,” Aaron Tsui, an activist with Chicago-based organization Cycling Solidarity, and who has been printing whistles, told 404 Media. “Whistles are an easy way to bring awareness for when ICE is in the area, printing out the whistles is something simple that I can do in order to help bring awareness.”
Over the last couple months ICE has especially focused on Chicago as part of Operation Midway Blitz. During that time, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel have shot a religious leader in the head, repeatedly violated court orders limiting the use of force, and even entered a daycare facility to detain someone.
3D printers have been around for years, with hobbyists using them for everything from car parts to kids’ toys. In media articles they are probably most commonly associated with 3D-printed firearms.
One of the main attractions of 3D printers is that they squarely put the means of production into the hands of essentially anyone who is able to buy or access a printer. There’s no need to set up a complex supply chain of material providers or manufacturers. No worry about a store refusing to sell you an item for whatever reason. Instead, users just print at home, and can do so very quickly, sometimes in a matter of minutes. The price of printers has decreased dramatically over the last 10 years, with some costing a few hundred dollars.
A video of the process from Aaron Tsui.
People who are printing whistles in Chicago either create their own design or are given or download a design someone else made. Resident Justin Schuh made his own. That design includes instructions on how to best use the whistle—three short blasts to signal ICE is nearby, and three long ones for a “code red.” The whistle also includes the phone number for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (ICIRR) hotline, which people can call to connect with an immigration attorney or receive other assistance. Schuh said he didn’t know if anyone else had printed his design specifically, but he said he has “designed and printed some different variations, when someone local has asked for something specific to their group.” The Printables page for Schuh’s design says it has been downloaded nearly two dozen times.
Whistles have become a common sight in Chicago during the ongoing and aggressive ICE activity, with some local groups handing them out or people buying generic whistles from Amazon, Reuters reported. Corner shops and restaurants have also offered whistles for free, Schuh said. 3D-printed whistles, meanwhile, “are a way to show a little extra solidarity, because it's being made for a specific purpose,” Schuh added. “Also, depending on how you do it you can pump them out much cheaper on a 3D printer, and maybe send a bit less money to people like Jeff Bezos.”
Once someone has a design, they can start printing. Tsui said “I take that file and send it over to my printer, where I end up printing 33 whistles at a time. Once printed I'll add on keyrings and then I'll pass off the whistles for distribution.” Tsui said he’s been using leftover filament that he’s accumulated over the years, so the cost has been “pretty negligible.” According to Tsui’s napkin math, the cost per 3D-printed whistle is around 20 cents, while buying one on Amazon can cost 30 to 50 cents.
After he’s made a bunch of whistles, Tsui said he hands off “a gallon sized ziploc bag of 200 whistles at a time to different events.”
Images of Justin Schuh's design, from here.
Christopher Whitaker, one of the organizers of a community school patrol north of Chicago and executive director of the Alliance of Civic Technologists, told 404 Media a neighbor uses a 3D printer to make whistles. “Local organizers take those whistles and put them into whistle packs that include instructions on what [to] do if they see federal agents in the neighborhood,” Whitaker said. He added everyone is “doing what they can no matter how big or small.”
According to posts on social media, whistles have been effective at warning people about the presence of ICE officials. “She didn’t understand why she was hearing these whistles until she remembered me telling her about them,” one post says, describing someone’s interaction with a coworker whose parents are immigrants. “She quickly got up and called both parents to announce ICE was in the area [...] She said it was just so powerful and she knew her parents were saved because of the whistles.” Schuh also posted a chat screenshot to Bluesky that shows someone saying “whistles got someone out of custody on Friday.”
DHS continues its aggressive tactics in the city despite orders to stop. A judge ordered Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino to report to her everyday after a wave of violence from the agency in Chicago. Bovino threw tear gas at demonstrators in the city’s Little Village neighborhood without a verbal warning, in violation of the judge’s order limiting the use of force. Bovino went on to lie about the incident to the judge, claiming he was hit by a rock, and later admitted he lied, ABC News reported.
