(The Hill) — Apple has removed ICEBlock, which allows users to track and report the location of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, from its App Store.
“We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” Apple said in a statement to NewsNation, The Hill’s sister company. “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 app, created in April, allows users to track where ICE officers are and pin their locations. Those within a five-mile radius of the pinned officers would receive a notification.
Fox Business reported Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi asked Apple to remove ICEBlock from the App Store. The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department (DOJ) for comment.
Since President Trump returned to office in January, ICE has conducted numerous immigration raids across the country, sparking concerns and protests from migrant communities and supporters.
According to a CNN report on ICEBlock in June, the app had over 20,000 users. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters in July, one day after CNN’s story was published, that her department was working with DOJ to “see if we can prosecute” the outlet. Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, aired similar criticisms.
Marcos Charles, the acting head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, in September called ICEBlock and similar apps “a casting call to invite bad actors to attack law enforcement officers” during a press conference the day after a gunman fatally shot two detainees at an ICE facility in Dallas. Charles said that the deceased shooter used ICE tracking apps to plan the incident.
“Anyone who creates or distributes these apps that [are] designed to spot, track and locate ICE officers are well aware of the dangers that they’re exposing to law enforcement,” Charles added.
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