Washington, D.C.:
Apple removed several applications from its App Store on Thursday that were used anonymously to report the movements of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, reportedly following significant pressure from the Trump administration.
These apps had grown increasingly popular in recent months as President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive accelerated across cities nationwide. However, Trump administration officials had fiercely criticized the apps, arguing they endangered officers, especially after a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas last month.
Officials claimed that the shooter had utilized such an app in the days leading up to his attack, which resulted in the deaths of two detainees and the wounding of another, although investigators believe the shooter was targeting ICE personnel.
ICE tracking apps, including the widely used ICEBlock, became inaccessible to reporters on the Apple App Store late Thursday.
Fox Business first reported the removals, with Attorney General Pam Bondi confirming that the Justice Department had “reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so.”
In a statement provided to NBC News, Apple confirmed its decision: “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.”
The removals come amid widespread protests at ICE facilities and during ICE operations around the country, where thousands of migrants have been rounded up, often by masked agents, as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing mass deportation campaign.
