Apple takes down ICE tracking apps after pressure from Trump administration

On Friday, October 3, Apple announced that it is removing apps that enable users to share information about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. 

The decision came after the company was contacted by the Trump administration, with officials expressing concern that such apps could endanger ICE agents.

ICEBlock, which launched back in April, became a topic of discussion at the White House after a CNN article about the app was called out by press secretary Karoline Leavitt and ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons on Monday. Both cited concerns over agent safety in their statements about the app, stating that “agents are facing a 500% increase in assaults.”

Beginning in early June, Los Angeles has seen a surge in reports of unidentified, masked individuals detaining people on the streets without federal warrants. It has been 120 days since the Trump administration has targeted several Latino communities in Southern California. Many users have turned to social media, WhatsApp and text message chains to communicate with one another about documenting raids, alerting individuals of operations and sharing resources and helpful information that they may need. 

While visiting a migrant detention encampment in Florita, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she is working with the Justice Department to see if CNN can be prosecuted for reporting on the phone application.

A spokesperson for CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O), said in a statement: “This is an app that is publicly available to any iPhone user who wants to download it. 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.”

Joshua Aaron, the Texas developer behind ICEBlock, said he was “extremely disappointed” by Apple's decision to take the application down from the Apple store. He also added that the app was designed to help users avoid confrontation, not incite it and that Apple initially approved the app, telling him it was legal and protected under free speech.

“In fact, it does exactly the same thing that their own Maps app does,” Aaron told the CBS News Texas I-Team. “Their Maps app allows you to see where a law enforcement officer – who is speed trapping. They call it a speed check report. There is nothing different about spotting an officer in public doing a speed trap than spotting an ICE agent in public.”

Could this possibly be another way of targeting those who are helping Latino communities during a critical political time? Los Angeles County Latino-populated areas in the San Fernando Valley, South Central Los Angeles, as well as Southeast Los Angeles, which include Norwalk, Bellflower, Downey, Montebello, Pico Rivera and South Gate, were among the regions with the most immigration enforcement activity since June, according to a study by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).

During these sweeps, U.S citizens were also taken, like Amanda Trebach, a member of Unión del Barrio, which is part of the Community Self-Defense Coalition, and also Adrian Andrew Martinez, a 20-year-old who was tackled and forcibly detained by several ICE agents in a parking lot near Washington Boulevard in Pico Rivera. 

Another way that Trump is targeting heavily Latino communities is with their recent court ruling by the Supreme Court on September 8, which lifted the restrictions for federal agents to keep conducting immigration operations in Los Angeles. 

The recent court ruling also raises concerns that Latinos could be targeted based on broad and discriminatory factors, such as speaking Spanish, their race or ethnicity, or even their occupation. It may also open the door to detaining individuals without probable cause, further undermining civil rights protections.