Apple explains last year’s controversial decision to remove ICE tracking apps from app store

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Apple says its decision to remove ICEBlock and similar platforms from the app store last year was prompted by concerns — including those raised by the Trump administration — about agent safety following a fatal shooting that left two detainees dead at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

Apple’s explanation came in a July letter to Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, who earlier this year launched an investigation into the Justice Department’s role in the removal of the apps from Apple’s and Google’s app stores and the impact on constitutionally protected speech. The letter has not previously been reported.

Raskin said the move suggests that Apple may be “working with the government to violate its customers’ First Amendment rights to record and report on the activities of their own government” in a response letter sent Monday to Apple’s senior director of government affairs, Timothy Powderly. Raskin added that there’s “no evidence” such apps were used to conduct the Dallas shooting and directed the company to conduct a new, independent review as to whether the apps violate Apple’s policies.

The letters shed new light on the removal of the ICE tracking apps. The apps had sparked intense backlash from Trump administration officials, who claimed they put agents’ safety at risk. But the apps’ creators and proponents argued the apps were simply a way for users to avoid contact with law enforcement and bore little difference in how Apple and Google maps let users alert others to police speed traps.

Jeffrey McWhorter/Reuters

Apple removes ICE tracking apps after Trump administration says they threaten officers

ICEBlock let users add a pin on a map when they saw agents operating in their area; other users within a five-mile radius would then receive a push alert notifying them of the sighting. Similar apps cropped up around the same time.

ICEBlock creator Joshua Aaron sued Trump administration officials in December, claiming the government abused its power and infringed on his free speech by pushing Apple to remove the app. Aaron has called the claim that ICEBlock was designed to harm law enforcement officers “patently false.” The officials , including then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, have moved to dismiss the case, denying they were directly responsible for the app’s removal and therefore rejecting the First Amendment violation claim.

Raskin’s inquiry could reignite a fraught political issue for Apple that began under previous CEO Tim Cook, at a time when new CEO John Ternus is attempting to focus the company’s efforts on AI and hardware innovation.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has stood by its claim that ICE tracking apps endanger agents.

“Our law officers are facing an over 1,600% increase in assaults, a 3,300% increase in vehicle attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats,” a spokesperson for DHS said in a statement Monday. “Further, these apps are a method to interfere with law enforcement activities and harbor illegal aliens.”

CNN has also reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Apple said in its letter to Raskin that it approved ICEBlock for the app store in April 2025, after Aaron addressed “certain user privacy concerns” identified during its initial review process. The company says it was “attentive” to news coverage and backlash to the app in the subsequent months.

Following the September 2025 Dallas ICE facility shooting, Bondi “expressed serious concerns to Apple that ICEBlock posed a threat to the safety of federal officers,” the company wrote. A 29-year-old gunman who opened fire at the facility killed two detainees and wounded another before taking his own life.

The letter also points to reports on statements from officials such as FBI Director Kash Patel, who claimed at the time that the shooter had searched for apps that tracked ICE agents’ locations. And Apple noted a “significant increase in ICE activity and threats against ICE” at the time, which it said endangered both agents and detainees — and all of which the company says prompted a new review of the app.

Ultimately, Apple determined ICE tracking apps violated its guidelines because they provided “precise location information about ICE officers (and, as a result, other individuals who may be in proximity to ICE agents, such as protestors or detainees), thus providing a potential roadmap for targeted violence and creating a significant risk of harm,” the company said in its letter.

Apple “does not take decisions about removing apps from the App Store lightly, but acts when it must — especially when there are serious concerns that an app is creating safety risks,” it said in the letter, which is signed by Powderly.

ICE tracking app sues Trump admin for abuse of govt power, censorship; says admin pressured apple to remove app

But Raskin raised questions about that justification in his Monday response to the company.

Raskin noted that while the shooter may have searched for ICE tracking apps, “he did not need a tracking app to locate the fixed position of a government building” and “is reported to have found the address using an app that comes standard on Apple devices.”

“There appears to be no direct connection between the Dallas incident and the apps you removed,” Raskin wrote. He also pointed to navigation apps still available within Apple’s app store that also track the real-time location of law enforcement officers.

Raskin requested that Apple send a full list of the apps it removed following concerns from the Justice Department and conduct an independent review of those removal decisions.

“Monitoring the actions of federal immigration authorities who have been deployed to (users’) neighborhoods … is a core First Amendment right and not a crime,” Raskin wrote.

Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images）

苹果公司表示，去年决定将 ICEBlock 和类似平台从应用商店下架，是出于对执法人员安全的担忧——包括特朗普政府提出的担忧——此前，达拉斯移民和海关执法局办公室发生致命枪击事件，导致两名被拘留者死亡。

苹果公司在7月份致众议院司法委员会资深成员、马里兰州民主党众议员杰米·拉斯金的一封信中做出了解释。拉斯金今年早些时候发起了一项调查，旨在查明司法部在苹果和谷歌应用商店下架这些应用程序的过程中所扮演的角色，以及此举对受宪法保护的言论自由的影响。此前，这封信的内容并未被公开报道。

拉斯金在周一发给苹果公司政府事务高级主管蒂莫西·鲍德利的一封回信中表示，此举表明苹果公司可能“与政府合作，侵犯其用户根据美国宪法第一修正案享有的记录和报道本国政府活动的权利”。拉斯金补充说，没有证据表明此类应用程序被用于实施达拉斯枪击案，并指示苹果公司对这些应用程序是否违反其政策进行新的独立审查。

这些信件揭示了美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）追踪应用程序被移除的内幕。这些应用程序曾引发特朗普政府官员的强烈反对，他们声称这些应用程序危及了执法人员的安全。但这些应用程序的开发者和支持者辩称，这些应用程序仅仅是用户避免与执法部门接触的一种方式，与苹果和谷歌地图允许用户提醒他人注意警​​方测速陷阱的方式并无本质区别。

杰弗里·麦克沃特/路透社

在特朗普政府称这些应用威胁到执法人员后，苹果公司下架了美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）的追踪应用。

ICEBlock允许用户在地图上标记其所在区域内是否有特工活动；方圆五英里内的其他用户会收到推送通知。类似的应用程序几乎在同一时期涌现。

ICEBlock 的开发者 Joshua Aaron 于去年 12 月起诉特朗普政府官员，声称政府滥用职权，并通过施压苹果公司下架该应用侵犯了他的言论自由。Aaron 称 ICEBlock 旨在伤害执法人员的说法“显然是错误的”。包括时任司法部长 Pam Bondi 在内的官员已提出驳回此案的动议，否认他们直接参与了该应用的下架，因此驳回了第一修正案的侵权指控。

拉斯金的调查可能会重新引发苹果公司在前任首席执行官蒂姆·库克时期开始的棘手政治问题，而此时新任首席执行官约翰·特纳斯正试图将公司的精力集中在人工智能和硬件创新上。

苹果公司尚未回复 CNN 的置评请求。

负责监管美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）的国土安全部坚持认为，ICE的追踪应用程序会危及执法人员的安全。

“我们的执法人员面临的袭击事件增加了1600%以上，车辆袭击事件增加了3300%，死亡威胁增加了8000%。”国土安全部发言人周一在一份声明中表示。“此外，这些应用程序被用来干扰执法活动和窝藏非法移民。”

CNN也已联系司法部寻求置评。

苹果公司在致拉斯金的信中表示，在亚伦解决了最初审核过程中发现的“某些用户隐私问题”后，苹果于2025年4月批准ICEBlock上架App Store。该公司称，在随后的几个月里，他们“密切关注”了有关该应用的新闻报道和负面评价。

2025年9月达拉斯移民及海关执法局（ICE）设施枪击案发生后，邦迪向苹果公司表达了“对ICEBlock可能对联邦官员安全构成威胁的严重担忧”，该公司写道。一名29岁的枪手在该设施开枪，造成两名被拘留者死亡，另一名被拘留者受伤，随后自杀身亡。

信中还提及了包括联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔在内的官员的声明，帕特尔当时声称枪手曾搜索过追踪美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）特工位置的应用程序。苹果公司也注意到，当时“ICE的活动和针对ICE的威胁显著增加”，该公司表示这危及了特工和被拘留者的安全——而所有这些都促使该公司对该应用程序进行了新的审查。

最终，苹果公司认定 ICE 追踪应用程序违反了其准则，因为这些应用程序提供了“有关 ICE 官员（以及因此可能与 ICE 特工靠近的其他人，例如抗议者或被拘留者）的精确位置信息，从而为有针对性的暴力行为提供了潜在的路线图，并造成了重大的伤害风险”，该公司在信中表示。

苹果公司在一封由 Powderly 签署的信中表示：“苹果不会轻易决定从 App Store 中移除应用程序，而是在必要时采取行动——尤其是在严重担忧某个应用程序会造成安全风险的情况下。”

一款美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）追踪应用程序起诉特朗普政府滥用职权和审查制度；称政府曾施压苹果公司下架该应用程序。

但拉斯金在周一回复该公司时对这一理由提出了质疑。

拉斯金指出，虽然枪手可能搜索过 ICE 追踪应用程序，但“他不需要追踪应用程序就能找到政府大楼的固定位置”，而且“据报道，他使用苹果设备上的标准应用程序找到了该地址”。

拉斯金写道：“达拉斯事件与你删除的应用程序之间似乎没有直接联系。”他还指出，苹果应用商店中仍然有一些导航应用程序可以追踪执法人员的实时位置。

拉斯金要求苹果公司提供一份完整的应用程序列表，列出其在司法部提出担忧后下架的应用程序，并对这些下架决定进行独立审查。

拉斯金写道：“监督已部署到（用户）社区的联邦移民当局的行动……是一项核心的第一修正案权利，而不是犯罪。”