United States trains to face off with ICE: We've gone from fear to action'

"Lily Rodriguez approaches a woman selling elotes outside a subway station in Queens. She buys one, but what she's truly looking for is to earn the vendor's trust, and find a way to offer her a whistle. Rodriguez was accompanied by other volunteers who were similarly engaged in passing out whistles to every passer-by, distributing more than 200 of the instruments meant to make noise on the New York City streets."

"The United States is a country learning how to protect itself against the masked agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to intimidate them through noisemakers, cameras, and confrontations with neighbors. In January, Donald Trump was preparing to return to the White House and 39-year-old Rodriguez, the daughter of migrants, felt like she had to find a way to channel her anger."

"She came across an ICE Watch workshop, part of a movement that has recently taken on new force and looks to keep immigrant communities safe against raids and detentions by federal agents. Today, Rodriguez is a local volunteer for the organization, visiting small businesses to show owners how to deal with the presence of agents, and passing out whistles to alert undocumented individuals."

"ICE is getting stronger and more aggressive every day, she says. Being in community and getting to know the people around us is more important than ever. Real protection is born out of everyday interaction, of talking to the woman on the corner who sells tamales, the young man at the bodega, the barbers in the Dominican barbershop. Knowing the people who make up the fabric of our streets."

Lily Rodriguez and volunteers hand out whistles in Queens to earn trust and warn undocumented neighbors about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. They have distributed more than 200 whistles and demonstrate signal conventions: three short blasts to indicate agents nearby and a long continuous blast to signal a detention. Volunteers run ICE Watch workshops, teach small-business owners how to respond to agents, and distribute whistles on streets and utility poles. The effort frames everyday social ties — talking with vendors, bodega workers, and barbers — as the foundation of protection against raids and detentions.

Read at english.elpais.com