Communities have used loud sirens to warn people about hurricanes, tsunamis and approaching hurricanes, but now some activists in Los Angeles are using sirens to warn of immigration agents.
Since President Trump took office, Los Angeles communities have seen a significant increase in the number of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, targeting business districts and neighborhoods, and other community groups have responded by seeking ways to warn residents.
For weeks, activists have been setting up small – but loud – sirens throughout Highland Park. The goal: to get people off the streets and inside so they can be safe and avoid arrest.
“At least we can warn the public,” said another local activist.
Leaflets are posted throughout the area explaining their use.
An activist holds up signs that alert local residents of a flag that has been installed to alert residents of ICE’s presence in Highland Park.
(Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)
“When the alarm goes off ICE is in the community,” read the flyers, posted in English and Spanish. “Get off the streets, take shelter and lock up.”
Since the summer, immigration advocates have looked for ways to alert members of the LA community when an immigration sweep is imminent.
But recently, especially since the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota in January, advocates have been looking for ways to provide some distance.
Some activists go to places where ICE agents are seen. Some recorded interactions with immigration agents pulling over and stopping residents, while others shouted, whistled and warned bystanders to avoid the area.
The videos showed ICE agents ordering activists to stay away from each other and stop recording, sometimes threatening to arrest or detain the activists. But recent deadly shootings have heightened the sense of danger.
The devices, some activists told The Times, could also help protect activists while informing citizens about ICE in the area.
“People are scared, people are scared,” said Nelson Grande, a Highland Park resident running for Los Angeles City Council District 1. “We need to come up with more creative ways to keep our community safe.”
About the size of a football, the fire engine’s red siren looks like a loose, portable speaker. But their loud screeching, which can be activated via a mobile app, can be heard up to half a mile away.
A siren has been posted to alert local residents of ICE’s presence in Highland Park.
(Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)
About 20 red sirens have been installed in the community so far, and community groups and local activists are still trying to raise money to buy more, and look for more businesses and homes where they can install them.
The metal particles cost about $70 each, and activists have resorted to online fundraising to buy more. Several are placed on busy sections of York Boulevard and Figueroa Street, the activist said, inside businesses in the area and in homes.
The Department of Public Safety is not happy with this idea.
“This is absolutely insane,” a department spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Highland Park residents want to buy an air raid siren, the same thing that was used in London when the German planes flew over – to warn the public about ICE. It seems like a nuisance to the community.”
The spokesperson also responded with the names and photos of several men from Los Angeles who were arrested by ICE and convicted of serious crimes.
“These are some of the criminals Highland Park residents are trying to protect and help avoid arrest,” the spokesperson said.
One city official, who asked not to be identified because city officials have not been involved or consulted on the effort, said there are concerns about how the sirens will be used, how volunteers will identify and confirm the presence of ICE officers, and how citizens will know the value of the sirens if they are used.
One activist said the group understands the concerns, and concerns about noise complaints, but countered that with the changing tactics of ICE agents in their communities, residents are looking for new, flexible, low-cost ways to alert people.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on the alert. The spokesperson for Councilor Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the area, also refused to comment on the sirens, saying that the city is not united.
The bright red sounds may seem easy to spot, but activists say they have asked business owners and residents who have installed sirens to be invisible so that they are not immediately visible when federal agents are on the scene. Activists also instruct people not to see them so that ICE agents cannot see them and later target them.
“We see a diverse group of people trying to come to support,” Grande said. “No particular person is being asked to do this.”
Alarms operate using a mobile app that only certain people in the area can access and use.
Phone bells have been installed to alert local residents of ICE’s presence in Highland Park.
(Carlin Stiehl/For The Times)
The project has already received media attention, but activist groups are also keeping many details of the effort secret. Many of the activists involved in the effort spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation. They declined to identify the residents or businesses they are helping.
The activist also wouldn’t share which app was used to activate the alarms, pointing to previous efforts by the Trump administration to pressure Apple and Google to remove apps that alert people to ICE agents, such as ICEBlock.
Because sirens are not approved by the city, local planners have been placing devices on private property, including businesses and homes.
Another coffee shop owner in Highland Park who asked not to be named told The Times newspaper that they know sirens have been installed near where they live, but they have not been contacted to install them in their shop.
Instead, the store carries free whistles for customers to download and use in case ICE agents are spotted in the area. The whistles, which have been distributed to local businesses for several weeks, provide another way for residents to warn each other.
Although the sirens have not yet been fully brought online, their effectiveness has been demonstrated during recent tests.
On a recent weekend in February, a group of lawyers showed one of the phones of a business owner who was considering installing it. The noise caused someone nearby to think that ICE was actually in the area, so they activated their siren as well.
“We are trying to see what other steps we can take to get everyone out of the streets safely,” said an activist at the demonstration who asked not to be named because he fears the government will retaliate.
For months, activists have been protesting in the city of LA against ICE, especially near the Metropolitan Detention Center where activists have faced federal agents, police and National Guard. There, he found a Highland Park activist group that was raising money to buy sirens, and joined.
Activists have not contacted police or city officials about the devices, raising some concerns about how the devices are used, how to inform residents about what the sounds from the sirens mean, and the possibility that the noise could become a nuisance.
But activists say the crackdown is not intended to help undocumented citizens who have lived and worked in the community for years, but also citizens, undocumented immigrants and others who have been targeted by federal agents in recent operations.
“It’s not just dangerous criminals who are being taken,” said Grande. “Most of us know family members and friends who are taken away. We know how brutal ICE raids are.”
