Immigrant groups clash with ‘White Savior’ activists

Immigrant groups have a message for their mostly White friends: Stop blowing the whistle on ICE.

Fox News Digital reviewed days of messages within Signal’s discussion forums revealing that a new internal conflict has erupted in the anti-ICE protest industry, pitting immigrant-led organizations against mostly White “quick-response” networks that have made whistleblowing a dramatic part of the anti-ICE protests.

In one of the deportations, a “quick responder” in Seattle reported that “immigrant networks are going crazy.”

Groups from Seattle to Montgomery County, Md., are telling mostly White “first responders” to stop the dynamic described by activists as “White Savior,” reminding them that they are not cameo players in an “action movie” against ICE.

This past weekend, the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network – known locally as “WAISN,” a Seattle-based, immigrant-led organization, he reprimanded openly whistle-blowing practice, sparks backlash among white “quick reaction” activist circles.

“WHY QUICK RESPONSE WAISN DOESN’T USE LIVES,” the group wrote in an Instagram post, emphasizing, “We show with care and accountability, not noise or panic.”

“It’s not about being the loudest, boldest, or most visible person on the scene or confronting immigration agents. It’s a commitment to nonviolence, discipline and harm reduction, which focuses on the well-being of the most vulnerable immigrant and refugee committees in Washington,” the post continued.

The message was like a vague directive: Put away the whistles.

A FAR NETWORK THAT HELPED PUT ALEX PRETTI ON THE ROAD, AND MADE HIM A MARTYR.

Fox News Digital reviewed internal Signal chat messages from first responders in the Seattle area that show the rejection of whistleblowers created open hostility.

“We believe in whistleblowing, people want whistleblowing, nothing has changed [sic] no matter what WAISN says,” one participant wrote on a group called “WA Whistles.”

The controversy escalated when Snohomish County Indivisible in Washington state told supporters this week that it would follow the directive and “halt the distribution of whistleblowing materials.” The local group is a chapter of the powerful national non-profit organization, Indivisible, which received $7.26 million from 2018 to 2023 from billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, which is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

In a surprising reception, the Indivisible chapter warned against activists posing as saviors, falling into the dynamic of “‘White Savior’.” It added bold face type to make its point.

“The use of whistleblowing is complex, and we recognize that this decision may be disappointing,” the Indivisible chapter said. “It is important that we avoid falling for the ‘White Savior’, focusing on ourselves as saviours, doing things for communities and not in them, or prioritizing feeling useful over building real, shared power.”

For months, blowing the whistle was a popular strategy among white first responders in cities including Minneapolis, Chicago, New York and Seattle. Activists used whistles to alert neighbors to the presence of federal agents, disrupt operations and create public pressure.

For the Seattle group, a “quick responder” dismissed the group’s concerns as “inexplicably condescending,” saying that while the whistles might be “torturous,” they were certainly “not as bad as being kidnapped, or watching it happen in front of your house.”

Others have framed the immigrant-led nonprofit as selfish and risk-averse. One person scorned the “immigrant rights non-profit,” while another complained “I’m a non-profit” who doesn’t put “reason behind their work.”

The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network is a tax-deductible organization under the 501(c)(3) tax code, raising $3 million in revenue by 2024, according to it. the most recent publicly available tax filing. The Indivisible Project is a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit that raised $10.4 million by 2024, according to it. recent tax filing. It has a 501 (c) (3) non-profit political organization, Indivisible Civics Inc., which raised $5.2 million by 2024, according to it. recent tax filing.

Separate comments cast long-time nonprofit workers as having drunk the “koolaid,” labeling nonviolent, disciplined methods as “code eaters.”

WA Whistles told Fox News Digital the group “respects” the immigration agency’s decision “not to use whistleblowing in their immediate response.” It added: “Individual comments in our discussions do not reflect WA Whistles as a whole. We respect everyone’s first amendment right to express themselves.”

DEAN PHILLIPS: WE CAN FIX IMPORTS WITHOUT BLESSING THE FISHERS OR BEING ILLEGAL

Anti-ICE “rapid responders” used whistles to alert residents as federal agents raided the house on Jan. 13, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minn. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Some activists, calling themselves “print dwarves” for producing whistles on 3-D printers, said they would remove the group’s contact number from their materials. A few participants backed away from the criticism, with one saying he was “uncomfortable” with the “insulting words” directed at the immigration organization.

The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, meanwhile, has been outspoken about the stakes. In Washington state, the group said, whistle-blowing tactics “increase fear, draw unwanted attention, and hinder immediate response efforts.” It did not respond to a request for comment.

“We are committed to taking guidance from organizations with longevity, trust and expertise in this profession—experience we don’t have, and we don’t think we know better,” the statement said.

MILLIONS INVOLVED CCP ALLEGED BANKROLL MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR GROUPS THROUGH DARK MONEY NETWORK

A woman blows her whistle on US Border Patrol agents at a gas station in Minneapolis, Minn. on the 21st of Jan. 2026. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

This debate also exposes ideological fault lines. Since last summer, groups including the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Democratic Socialists of America have encouraged whistleblowing as part of a broader standoff with US law enforcement. They are borrowed from the whistle-blowing tactics used by social workers’ union groups and communists in Europe.

The People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation are funded by American-born tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai and supports groups that have made it their business to foment chaos and protests in the United States, with a pro-China agenda.

In one post, the Party for Socialism and Liberation announced, “Hear a whistle? That could be ICE!” A whistle group from Seattle uses templates that the People’s Forum distributes through the group, “ICE Out of New York.”

The Washington group echoed a warning from immigrant-led groups in Maryland that issued an anti-whistle proclamation last month, speaking bluntly to “white allies” reminding them that they were not playing cameo roles in an “action movie,” with their whistles as weapons of power and authority.

In an Instagram postsThe Montgomery County Immigrant Rights Collective published an anti-whistleblower message – “WHY AREN’T WE USING THE EYES FOR A QUICK RESPONSE -” and other local immigrant-led groups, including the Central Maryland Immigrant Rights Collective, Prince George’s County Immigrant Rights Collective, “Immigration Associates”, “Immigration Collision” and “UndocuRebels.” The groups did not return a request for comment.

“Especially in white unions,” they write, “whistles can represent an implicit desire for authority, protection or control in times of crisis, but the immediate reaction is not to take authority.” It’s about showing your community discipline, humility, and self-restraint when we question the decisions made by those affected, risking our focus on comfort instead of the people affected.

They note, “Sound doesn’t equal performance.”

“BEGIN REALLY REALLY (NOT HEROES),” they wrote, to the tune of the popular protest song, “Que me devuelvan la tierra,” which means “Give me back my land.”

They wrote, “This is not an action movie. You are not in one-on-one combat with ICE.”

Adding bold emphasis, they noted, “And you are not the core of this situation.”

They noted that its anti-whistleblower stance was developed by speaking to “120+ community members” whose families “have lived through ICE, detention, surveillance and state violence.” After consulting with members of the public, the conclusion was unanimous: don’t use whistles.

DEMOCRATIC OFFICERS, TIKTOKERS, LIBERALS TAKE THEIR PRE-ICE SPEECHES TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Detroit, Michigan, Volunteers with the Detroit People’s Assembly gather materials to mourn. The whistles are designed to alert others in the community when immigrants are near. These volunteers prepared a bilingual tip sheet for dealing with immigration agents. (Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Maryland coalition warned that whistleblowing could “inflame already volatile ICE agents,” “make it more difficult to document and capture information,” “increase the likelihood of aggression against bystanders or the detainee” and “create confusion” for community members and children.

They also pointed to disproportionate impacts on “Black and Black communities” already “exposed to chronic noise pollution,” which they linked to PTSD, anxiety, sleep disorders and heart disease.

Perhaps most obviously, the group rejected the brand itself. It says whistleblowing has historically been associated with military and police actions, including “repression, raids and disappearances,” particularly in developing countries.

“They were not tools used by oppressed communities, they were tools used to fight against them,” they said, emphasizing their point emphatically.

At a new conference between immigrant-led groups and coalitions of mostly white activists, immigrant leaders warned that tactics aimed at showing solidarity could easily reproduce the sounds of “state power”.

But in the trenches, many White “partners” continued to tone down the direction, saying they would continue, business as usual, blowing the whistle.

In the middle of the week, WA Whistles went public with their insistence, posting a message on their Instagram, saying, “WHISTLES ARE WORKING.”

“They are a call to courage and a decision to care aloud,” it says, laying the foundation for high morals.

Another user then asked for “brightly colored whistles that can be worn around the neck as a symbol of resistance that everyone can see as they go about their day.”

Fox News Digital’s Kiera McDonald and Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM