Overview
- Highland Park Community Support Group is crowdfunding and preparing to install small sirens and distribute whistles to alert residents when ICE is nearby.
- Organizers say the alerts would give families time to take shelter and encourage neighbors to observe enforcement activity for accountability.
- Installations are planned on consenting private properties, with at least one site near a dual-language school and coverage focused around Figueroa Street.
- The group aims to have the system in place by Feb. 23, while some residents oppose the plan over concerns it could cause panic or other problems.
- First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned that aiding or harboring undocumented immigrants could be prosecuted under 8 U.S.C. 1324, which carries penalties of up to five years in prison.