US Politics
Apple pulls ICE tracking apps after pressure from the White House
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Apple has removed a number of apps from its App Store allowing users to track the movement of ICE agents as they conduct raids on alleged illegal immigrants across the United States on behalf of Donald Trump’s administration.
Most prominent among the apps is ICEBlock, a free program with hundreds of thousands of users that has been heavily criticised by top administration officials.
Apple said in a statement that it had acted after being contacted by “law enforcement” but did not state which agency it was referring to.
open image in gallery
The Independent has reached out to Apple, the White House and ICE for further comment.
ICEBlock, which was the store’s most downloaded app at one point this summer, invites users to share legal information about ICE’s activities in their communities and carries the slogan: “See something, tap something.”
“In recent years, ICE has faced criticism for alleged civil rights abuses and failures to adhere to constitutional principles and due process, making it crucial for communities to stay informed about its operations,” the app explains on its official website.
“Modeled after Waze but for ICE sightings, the app ensures user privacy by storing no personal data, making it impossible to trace reports back to individual users.”
It was attacked by the Trump administration in July, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying that the Justice Department was “looking at” the app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, and warning: “He better watch out.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also expressed disapproval of ICEBlock, saying it “sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers,” while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused CNN of “actively encouraging people to avoid law enforcement activities” simply by reporting on its existence.
open image in gallery
“We will not be intimidated,” Aaron told The Independent in response to the administration’s comments in July.
“As long as ICE agents have quotas, and this administration ignores people’s constitutional rights, we will continue fighting back. No human is illegal.”
Ending the availability of such programs in app stores is unlikely to prevent members of the public opposed to ICE’s mission from sharing agents’ locations on encrypted messaging services like Signal and WhatsApp or in Reddit threads, a number of which have been used to attempt to try to thwart raids this year.
ICE’s operations have attracted widespread protests across U.S. cities this year, most notably in Los Angeles, California, which led to Trump sending in the National Guard and active-duty Marines to support local law enforcement in June.
The Trump administration has repeatedly warned about its immigration forces being made the target of violence, the latest example of which was a deadly sniper attack on an ICE detention center in Dallas, Texas, last week, in which three people, including the gunman, were killed and two more injured.
