Apple has removed ICEBlock and other immigration enforcement tracking apps from its App Store after pressure from the Trump administration's Justice Department, escalating a battle over technology, immigration, and public safety.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday she demanded Apple pull the apps, claiming they endangered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. "We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store - and Apple did so," Bondi stated in comments to Fox News Digital. "ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed."
Apple confirmed the move, citing law enforcement concerns following a deadly attack at an ICE facility in Dallas. "We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps," Apple said in a statement. "Based on information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store."
Authorities said Joshua Jahn, who opened fire on a Dallas ICE field office on Sept. 24 before killing himself, had searched for ICE tracking tools including ICEBlock. The shooting left two immigrants dead and one critically wounded. FBI investigators said Jahn's intended targets were ICE agents.
ICE officials warned that the apps amplify threats. "Advertising an app that basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers' backs is sickening," Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, said in June. "My officers and agents are already facing a 500% increase in assaults." At a press conference last week, Marcos Charles, acting director for ICE removal operations, added that "violent rhetoric has led to an over 1000% increase in assaults on ICE officers, and it has to stop."
The removal comes after ICEBlock briefly became the top social networking app in Apple's store this summer, propelled by attention from activists and condemnation by the White House. Trump administration border czar Tom Homan told Fox News' Sean Hannity that the app's creators would be investigated because it "puts law enforcement at great risk."
Joshua Aaron, ICEBlock's creator, criticized Apple's decision and accused the company of political capitulation. "Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move," Aaron said. "Apple has claimed they received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false." He argued the app, which had more than 1.1 million users, worked like other crowdsourced mapping services. "Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to reign down on the people of this nation," Aaron said.
Aaron previously told CNN he created the app after seeing stepped-up deportations under Trump. "When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back," he said, comparing the enforcement climate to Nazi Germany. "We're literally watching history repeat itself."
