University of Minnesota gender studies program offers whistles to ‘alert’ peers of suspected ICE activity
The University of Minnesota’s Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies department advertised free whistles meant to 'alert your community of suspected ICE activity.'
The Instagram post cites an 'increase in ICE activity' near campus, part of a broader pattern of schools limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.
The University of Minnesota’s Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies recently advertised free whistles to “alert your community of suspected ICE activity.”
The department publicized the resource on its Instagram page on Dec. 15, saying there was an “increase in ICE activity near and outside of campus.”
The post states: “We are sending SO much love to our immigrant communities both in and outside of the University. We encourage you to use these resources to keep you and your community safe.”
ICE refers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the primary federal agency for immigration law enforcement.
The gender studies department says it is providing the whistles for students to “alert your community,” but does not offer further instructions. Campus Reform did not find any mention of the whistles on the department’s website.
The Instagram post further adds that the whistles come “with a zine of how and when to use” them. “It also has cards with what to say if stopped by ICE in English, Spanish, and Arabic.”
According to its website, the “Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota promotes feminist scholarship, teaching, and programming that centers on the relationship between knowledge, power, and social justice.”
The description further makes “a commitment to restructure institutional relationships between the University and vulnerable communities in order to address and undo structural inequalities.”
Campus Reform reported in July that over 35 universities identify as a “sanctuary” for illegal immigrants and limit or refuse cooperation with ICE. Portland State University, for example, “will not consent to immigration enforcement actions on campus.”
In November, California State University, Fresno, announced it would notify all students about potential ICE raids. California Assembly Bill 2586, or the SAFE Act, requires universities to “notify and support” potential targets of immigration enforcement.
Five universities in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, openly identify as “sanctuary” campuses, including Boston University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Suffolk University, and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Chicago student efforts to track ICE became public in October, including Loyola University Chicago’s student newspaper’s “ICE Tracker Map.” Students at the University of Chicago maintain a similar resource for illegal immigrants.
Campus Reform contacted the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies department for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
