Apple has announced the removal of ICEBlock and other apps from its App Store that allowed users to anonymously report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The decision follows pressure from Attorney General Pam Bondi and growing controversy over the Trump administration’s strict immigration enforcement policies.
The FBI revealed last week that Joshua Jahn, the gunman behind an attack on a Dallas ICE facility that killed two detained immigrants and injured another, had recently searched for apps tracking ICE agents before fatally shooting himself. Authorities said he had intended to target ICE personnel.
“We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” Apple stated in a release to NBC News on Thursday.
“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 company added.
Since its launch earlier this year, ICEBlock had been downloaded over one million times, according to app analytics firm Appfigures. The app peaked at nearly 114,000 downloads in a single day on July 1, following a CNN report that drew criticism from the Trump administration.
Bondi confirmed Apple’s decision in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, “We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so.”
“ICEBlock is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed,” she emphasized.
“This Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect our brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe,” Bondi added.
Trump administration border czar Tom Homan also weighed in during a Fox News interview, stating,
“They’re gonna investigate these people who put these apps up — because it puts law enforcement at great risk.”