Washington pressures Apple to remove apps tracking immigration raids
Popular apps on App Store (photo: Getty Images)
Apple has removed popular apps for tracking immigration raids, including ICEBlock, from the App Store following pressure from the US Department of Justice, which cited a threat to agents' safety, Bloomberg reports.
Following an official request from the Department of Justice, Apple removed several popular apps from the App Store that were used to warn about the movements of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The company explained that the decision was made based on information received from law enforcement.
"We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover 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.
ICEBlock enabled users to anonymously report the locations of ICE agents and immigration raids by utilizing crowdsourced data.
The app quickly gained popularity in the United States in the summer of 2025, especially after criticism from the Trump administration. Officials at the time claimed that attacks on ICE agents had increased and that the app allegedly posed a threat to their safety.
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that the Department of Justice had officially requested Apple to remove the app:
"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," she said.
The developer of ICEBlock, Joshua Aaron, denied the accusations. According to him, the app functioned similarly to many other platforms that rely on community data sharing and was essentially a standard crowdsourcing tool designed to help communities stay informed.
The removal of ICEBlock sparked a wave of debate in the United States. Immigration rights advocates view it as a restriction on free speech, while law enforcement officials welcome Apple's decision as a step toward improving agent safety.
Earlier, in Los Angeles, police fired over a thousand rounds in one day at protesters during demonstrations against Trump's immigration policy.
In August 2025, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released footage of the deportation of Ukrainian citizens. At the same time, border officials reported no mass returns of Ukrainians.
