Apple removes ICE tracking apps after Trump administration says they threaten officers

By Clare Duffy, CNN

New York (CNN) — Following a request from the US Department of Justice, Apple has removed ICEBlock and similar apps that allow people to alert others nearby about sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area. President Donald Trump and his administration have railed against the apps for months, arguing that they pose a threat to ICE agents.

In an email to ICEBlock creator Joshua Aaron, Apple wrote that “upon re-evaluation,” the app does not comply with its app store guidelines around “objectionable” and “defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content,” according to a copy of the message viewed by CNN.

“Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app violates” the app store guidelines because “it’s purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group,” the email states.

Aaron has said the ICEBlock app was intended to help people avoid contact with ICE agents. FBI Director Kash Patel said last month that a man who shot at a Dallas ICE field office planned the attack for weeks and “searched apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents.” Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, said in June, “An app that lets anyone zero in on their locations is like inviting violence against them.”

The Justice Department, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment. In a statement published on Fox News Digital, which first reported Apple’s removal of the apps, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said ICEBlock and similar apps crossed a line.

“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,” Bondi said in her statement to Fox.

ICEBlock and similar apps have been available on Apple’s app store since the spring. Apple, in a statement, said the company removed the apps Thursday after communication with law enforcement. The company didn’t specifically cite ICE or DHS, but Bondi told Fox that the Justice Department reached out to Apple, “demanding” the company remove the apps.

“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,” Apple said in a statement. Apple and its CEO Tim Cook have in recent months sought to strengthen the company’s relationship with the White House, amid policy changes from Trump that could threaten its business.

Aaron, the ICEBlock creator, has denied that the app was intended to incite violence against law enforcement. In a statement to CNN Friday, Aaron said he is “incredibly disappointed by Apple’s actions today” and called the claim that ICEBlock was designed to harm law enforcement officers “patently false.” The app had more than 1 million users prior to its removal, according to Aaron. The app was only available on Apple’s iOS, because Aaron previously said he would not be able to guarantee anonymity for users on Android.

“ICEBlock is no different from crowdsourcing speed traps, which every notable mapping application, including Apple’s own Maps app, implements as part of its core services,” he said. “This is protected speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. We are determined to fight this with everything we have.”

Aaron told CNN in June that he hoped the crowdsourced notifications would help people avoid interactions with ICE. When users log a sighting in the ICEBlock app, it warns: “Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only. It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement.”

“Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to (rain) down on the people of this nation,” he said in his Friday statement.

But the White House has repeatedly admonished the apps and the media coverage about them. After CNN reported about ICEBlock in June, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sharply criticized CNN, saying at a news briefing that it was “unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe.”

In a statement at the time, CNN denied it was promoting the app.

“This is an app that is publicly available to any iPhone user who wants to download it,” a CNN spokesperson said. “There is nothing illegal about reporting the existence of this or any other app, nor does such reporting constitute promotion or other endorsement of the app by CNN.”

Trump had threatened Apple, specifically, with steep tariffs for making its iPhone overseas, but Cook has gained favor with Trump in recent months after the company announced hundreds of billions of dollars in manufacturing investment in the United States. Trump has since limited the potential damage to Apple after exempting certain electronic products from tariffs following pledges from Cook. Nevertheless, Apple’s tariff bill has been around $1 billion per quarter.

The-CNN-Wire
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