Apple has removed ICEBlock and other apps from its App Store that allowed users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, following pressure from the Trump administration.
ICEBlock, which went viral earlier this year, let users share details about where they had seen ICE agents within a 5-mile radius, including descriptions of their clothing. Despite the app’s popularity, Apple pulled it after being contacted by law enforcement about “safety risks” associated with such tools.
Fox Business first reported the removal, citing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said Justice Department officials asked Apple to take action at her direction.
ICEBlock did not collect or store user data, a fact confirmed through network traffic analysis by TechCrunch. Still, its removal comes amid heightened tensions over the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The move follows a deadly shooting at an ICE detention center in Dallas last week, after which the FBI noted that the gunman had searched for apps tracking ICE agents.
Federal officials argue that ICEBlock endangered workers by exposing their locations and appearances. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem previously floated legal action against news outlets covering the app, while Bondi personally warned developer Joshua Aaron in July that the Justice Department was “looking at him.”
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Apple and the DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and ICEBlock’s developers could not be reached.
