Apple has removed from its App Store several programs that alert users to sightings of immigration agents amid a furious pushback from the Trump administration over the services.
Most prominently, ICEBlock, a free app with hundreds of thousands of users, was no longer available as of Thursday evening to download on the App Store. ICEBlock allows people to anonymously share the locations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents within a five-mile radius, and its creators had recommended the App Store as the only safe venue from which to download and use it.
In a statement, Apple said it had taken down ICEBlock, and other similar apps, after being contacted by “law enforcement,” but it did not specify which agency or agencies had contacted it and did not say which other apps it had removed. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump administration officials have issued several legal threats over the use of ICEBlock — or even simply reporting on it. Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, said in July that the Justice Department was investigating whether it could prosecute CNN for reporting on the app’s existence, arguing that it amounted to “actively encouraging people to avoid law enforcement activities.” It is unclear what crime that would amount to.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general, also said the Justice Department was “looking at” Joshua Aaron, the creator of the app, adding that “he better watch out.”
In response to the threats, Mr. Aaron defended ICEBlock in an appearance on MSNBC, saying that the service fell under free speech protections and that there was nothing illegal about creating or using the app. He likened the app to Waze and other navigation apps that allow users to alert others to the presence of the police on the road.
“I think whenever you push back against a regime that is purporting authoritarianism, pushing fascism and subverting the rule of law in our Constitution,” Mr. Aaron said in July, “if you push back against them, you have to know they’re going to come after you in some way.”
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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