CHICAGO — Owner Vanessa Aguirre-Ávalos was busy watching over a small group of young children at Luna y Cielo Play Café when she heard what sounded like a helicopter circling over the neighborhood.

Concerned, she stepped outside to figure out what was going on. She watched as federal immigration agents passed by in trucks. Aguirre-Ávalos immediately blew the whistle hanging around her neck.

“I was blowing the whistle several times. I don’t know if I was even using the right cadence,” she said about the scene she witnessed last month, which devolved into the agents throwing smoke canisters into the street just steps away from Funston Elementary School and her Logan Square play space. “But it was my first reaction, just to get people to know what was happening.”

Aguirre-Ávalos said the small, inexpensive devices are useful in alerting neighbors to ICE activity, which is why she hands them out for free at her business.

From coffee shops to bars to adult stores, businesses and other volunteers have handed out thousands of whistles across the city in solidarity. Hundreds have also assembled whistle kits at “Whistlemania” events. The kits include “Know Your Rights” information, whistles and a zine with instructions on how to use them. They have been passed out to businesses, schools, Little Free Libraries and more.

Others have distributed “Hands Off Chicago” posters to hang in windows or carry during the large “No Kings” protests over the weekend.

“My grandparents, on both sides, came (to the United States) for a better life, and why not fight back?” Aguirre-Ávalos said. “It’s the least I can do. They were able to give me this life, a better life, and why not use my privilege and my voice?”

Erin Tobes, a volunteer with a rapid response group in the Bowmanville neighborhood of the Lincoln Square community, explained how the whistles are used. A short blast means a confirmed sighting of a federal immigration agent, and a long hold is for when an agent is detaining someone. Noise equals more visibility, she said.

They also help other volunteers identify each other in neighborhoods, she said. Pamphlets distributed alongside the whistles also say to remain nonviolent.

“It’s kind of an extra comfort,” she said. “It lets people know that they have a way of being heard if something were to happen, they have a way of calling out for help if they feel like they’re in a situation that becomes a little scary.”

Distributing the whistles and other information has been a “community effort,” Tobes said. She hands them out with a friend outside a nearby elementary school, while another man in her neighborhood made around 150 whistles on his 3D printer, she said.

“I think it’s so important for everyone in the community to feel seen and especially our vulnerable neighbors, are what I’m thinking of, and I want them to feel like the whole community stands behind them,” Tobes said.

Brendan Byrne assembled packets at his Avondale restaurant Wolfhound Bar and Kitchen. He’s already given out around 200 packets, and has 600 more to package up. Byrne also said he’s the son of Irish immigrants and thinks the actions of federal immigration agents in Chicago are “unconstitutional” and a “threat to the way of American life.”

“They can make noise. They draw attention to things they see that are happening in our community and cause a response,” he said. “Whether that’s just getting more people out, more eyes on it, getting in on film.”

“If this is the only effect we can have at the moment — that’s not going to end up with every citizen getting pepper ball in the face and thrown in the back of an unmarked car — maybe that’s the step we’re at,” he added.

There’s also been heightened interest in the “Hands Off Chicago” posters that are decorated with a Chicago flag and hanging on many businesses’ windows and doors, said Jake Lewis, a spokesperson for the coalition.

He said many stores have offered to distribute the signs on their own, an “organic” response he said he didn’t expect. He estimates thousands have been printed.

“It shows that people are fired up about this and want to get involved and show their opposition,” he said.

As immigration enforcement in Back of the Yards has picked up, Rolando Santoyo, the owner of La Selva clothing shop, said he’s watched as his sales have dropped as fearful neighbors stay inside. He said his kids have been shaken up by the ICE presence as well.

“It’s hard to see, and it’s something that I’m really worried about, honestly, because at this point it seems like (federal immigration agents) just don’t care,” he said. “It’s been pretty tough, just to have my kids see that — it’s hard.”

Walk-in traffic is down dramatically, and he’s shifted to making home deliveries instead, he said. But for anyone who stops by — whether they purchase something or not — he gives out the whistles and “Know Your Rights” cards.

In Rogers Park, Mark Selner said handing out whistles at his adult store called Red Vault was an easy way to help. If moms with strollers or young people aren’t comfortable coming inside the shop, he passes out the whistles outside. He said he’s passed out more than 100 whistles in a week.

“I’m in the middle of a neighborhood that’s very Latino, and I worry,” he said. “I figured I’d take advantage of my white privilege.”

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