Following pressure from the Trump administration, Apple on Thursday removed several apps from the App Store that allow users to issue alerts and report sightings of immigration agents.
The most prominent app, ICEBlock, allows people to anonymously share and report the locations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents within a five-mile radius. App creator Joshua Aaron received an email from Apple, in which the company said the app was “objectionable.”
“Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app violates the app store guidelines 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,” the email stated, according to CNN.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that after “demanding” that the app be removed, Apple acquiesced.
“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’s statement read. “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.”
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the man who shot at a Dallas ICE facility last month had “searched apps that tracked the presence of ICE agents” prior to the shooting. He did not provide evidence and did not list ICEBlock.
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Aaron, the app developer, said was “incredibly disappointed” by Apple’s decision, per a statement provided to CNN on Friday. He rejected claims of the app harming immigration agents as “patently false.”
“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,” Aaron said. “This is protected speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. We are determined to fight this with everything we have.”
The move is in line with Apple’s growing ties with the Trump administration. After being threatened with tariffs from President Donald Trump, the company announced a $600 billion investment in American manufacturing initiatives. CEO Tim Cook gifted the president a glass Apple logo in a 24-karat gold base, describing it as “engraved for President Trump” and a “unique unit of one.”
Trump, at the gifting ceremony, noted that Apple had received a tariff exemption.