In a Los Angeles neighborhood, a local group is deploying sirens as a signal to alert residents and business proprietors about potential actions by federal immigration authorities.
The initiative, led by the Highland Park Community Support group—a collective of concerned community members—has successfully utilized crowdfunding to acquire air raid sirens.
Amanda Alcalde, the founder of this group, shared with KTLA, “Our goal is to eventually have these sirens placed along various streets to enable people to find refuge. I’ve witnessed a significant amount of fear in people’s expressions. There is a noticeable absence of ethnic minorities in daily activities. It’s a substantial shift, almost like a dystopian scenario.”
Sunshine bathes Bunker Hill and the financial district of Los Angeles following morning showers, as viewed from a rooftop on Spring Street on September 10, 1996. (Ken Lubas/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Alcalde has distributed flyers to inform the neighborhood about the sirens, with plans to initiate installations later this month, according to reports.
Fox News Digital has reached out for comments from the support group, as well as from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
Organizers told the news outlet they were working with homeowners and businesses to place the sirens on private property, rather than city-owned spaces.
An off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and an image of a Los Angeles street. A group in one Los Angeles neighborhood is reportedly crowdfunding to install sirens to warn of ICE agents in the area. (Philip A. Dwyer/Bellingham Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images and Google Maps)
They were inspired by anti-ICE agitators in Minneapolis, who have confronted federal authorities targeting criminal illegal immigrants in that city.
On the street, volunteers have distributed ICE alert whistles, encouraging residents to warn each other when enforcement activity is seen.
“We don’t directly get ourselves involved with ICE, but we will get involved in protecting the community to stay in their office or home,” activist David Trujillo told the outlet.
Meanwhile. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently issued a directive to curtail ICE activity on city property.
