Apple, Google Block ICE-Tracking Apps After Trump Administration Demand
Users and developers of the apps defended access to the app. They said that it is well within their First Amendment right to capture what ICE is doing in their neighborhoods.
Hours following the Trump administration's demand to take down one popular iPhone app, ICEBlock, which flags sightings of U.S. immigration agents, Apple and Google have blocked downloads of other applications that track U.S. immigration agents, Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Users and developers defended access to the app, saying it is within their First Amendment right to track ICE activity in their neighbourhoods. They added that most users rely on these platforms to protect their own safety as President Donald Trump ramps up aggressive immigration enforcement. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, however, said such tracking puts ICE officers at risk.
Bondi informed AP that her office reached out to Apple on Thursday and demanded the removal of ICEBlock, claiming it was designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs. Apple complied, emailing Joshua Aaron, the app’s creator, that it would block further downloads after law enforcement informed Apple that the app breached app store rules. According to the email, the app violated policies “because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group.”
Aaron denounced Apple for submitting to what he called an "authoritarian regime." Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, said the removals were an example of tech companies capitulating to Trump.
“These apps are a lifeline for communities living in uncertainty and fear of when ICE might show up to tear their families apart,” Matos said.
Downloads of ICEBlock surged since Trump assumed office for his second term earlier this year. Aaron said he launched the app in April to help immigrant communities protect themselves from surprise raids or harassment. It had more than 1 million users.
Apple did not specify how many apps were removed but confirmed blocking “similar apps” due to safety risks flagged by law enforcement. Google said several similar apps violated policies for Android platforms.
Civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo, of Harvard University’s Cyberlaw Clinic, said government pressure to block apps has been “a hallmark of an authoritarian regime,” citing Apple’s removal of a Hong Kong protest app in 2019 under Chinese pressure.
Bondi had previously warned against apps that allow users to share the location of law enforcement officers, specifically calling out ICEBlock’s Aaron. Following a gunman opening fire on an ICE facility in Dallas, warnings intensified, though officials did not link any app directly to the incident. Aaron said the app only works if ICE activity is reported within a five-mile radius of another iPhone user.
Aaron added the app works like navigation apps such as Waze, Google Maps, and Apple Maps, which allow users to report police speed traps. Users and developers say most rely on these apps for safety and to protect their loved ones.
Sherman Austin, founder of StopICE.Net, a platform that tracks ICE activity online or through text alerts, said people want to know what is happening in their communities amid fears of racial profiling and violent arrests. StopICE.Net has more than 500,000 subscribers.
The group criticised the Trump administration for targeting people exercising their First Amendment rights. Last month, StopICE.Net learned that the Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed Meta for data on the platform’s Instagram account, which has now been temporarily blocked pending a court hearing.
Austin and other developers warned that the removal of these apps demonstrates the administration’s intent to control information and narratives, calling for challenges to such actions.
