Minnesota university gives students whistles to alert peers of suspected ICE activity

The University of Minnesota’s Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies department is promoting free whistles for students to use to warn others about what it calls “suspected ICE activity” near campus.

The department advertised the whistles in a Dec. 15 Instagram post, claiming an “increase in ICE activity near and outside of campus.” The post encouraged students to pick up the whistles to “alert your community.”

“We are sending SO much love to our immigrant communities both in and outside of the University,” the department wrote, according to Campus Reform. “We encourage you to use these resources to keep you and your community safe.” 

The post did not explain how blowing a whistle should be used in practice or what students are expected to do if they believe immigration enforcement is taking place. 

The whistles are distributed alongside written materials, the Instagram post said. The department said the whistles come with a booklet on “how and when to use” them, as well as cards explaining “what to say if stopped by ICE in English, Spanish, and Arabic.” 

The department’s website describes its mission as advancing feminist scholarship and teaching focused on power and social justice, and says the program is committed to reshaping institutional relationships to address what it calls structural inequalities involving “vulnerable communities.” 

The whistle promotion fits into a broader trend on college campuses in which administrators and academic departments adopt activist roles on immigration policy. In July, Campus Reform reported over 35 universities identify as “sanctuary” campuses for illegal immigrants and limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. 

Other campuses have taken similar steps: 

• Portland State University has said it “will not consent to immigration enforcement actions on campus.”  
• California State University, Fresno announced in November it would notify students about potential ICE raids, citing a state law requiring universities to “notify and support” those targeted by immigration enforcement. 
• In Massachusetts, several universities in Boston and Cambridge openly identify as sanctuary campuses, including Boston University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Suffolk University and the University of Massachusetts Boston. 

Critics argue such actions reflect a pattern in which liberal academic institutions prioritize political activism over cooperation with lawful authority, while offering only minimal transparency about how students are being encouraged to interfere with federal law enforcement activity.