Apple removes app that tracks ICE agents from its App Store, developer says

Apple has removed an app used to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from its App Store, with the developer saying in a social media post that it had been told by the technology company that its ICEBlock app had been removed due to “objectionable content.”

The app, which is free, relies on crowdsourcing to track ICE agents, with the company noting that it allows people to report sightings of ICE activities “within a 5 mile radius of your current location.” The app crossed 1 million downloads a month ago, the developer said. In its social media post, the ICEBlock developer blamed “pressure from the Trump Admin.” for the decision.

“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.”

In a comment to CBS News, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the Department of Justice had asked Apple to remove the app.

“We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so,” Bondi said. “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. This Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect our brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe.”

ICEBlock is one of a number of apps designed to let users track and anonymously report immigration agents. Another such tool, called Coqui, was still available on the App Store as of Friday morning. Some migrants are relying on the apps to alert them to the location of ICE agents to avoid arrest amid the Trump administration’s ramp up of deportation activities. 

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, told CBS News that apps that track ICE agents “put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings.”

She added, “But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed.”

In July, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan told CBS News she thinks such apps are dangerous and could be used to spot and ambush ICE agents.

“There’s always a form of free speech and a lot of things in technology, and we understand that and respect that, but where it crosses a line is when it becomes dangerous, not only to the ICE officers …,” Sheahan said at the time. She added, “If it’s impeding in law enforcement effort, that’s where that line comes in as well.”

Officials said last month that a gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas had searched for apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents.

—With reporting by Scott MacFarlane.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.