By Victoria Albert
The maker of an app that tracks immigration agents has sued several Trump administration officials, saying they censored his speech through a pressure campaign that ultimately resulted in the app being removed from Apple's App Store.
Joshua Aaron, creator of ICEBlock, filed suit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Aaron accuses administration officials including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of engaging in an unlawful campaign against his protected speech and of wrongly threatening him for creating and promoting the app.
Neither the Justice Department nor the Homeland Security Department immediately responded to a request for comment.
The administration has spoken often about the dangers immigration agents face while carrying out President Trump's mass-deportation campaign. When the app became popular earlier this year, officials said it would jeopardize agents' safety by telegraphing their locations to the public. Critics say the administration is exaggerating safety concerns to justify crackdowns on legal speech and protest activity.
"The Bill of Rights -- including the First Amendment -- was crafted precisely to safeguard the People's ability to question authority, expose governmental abuse, and hold public officials accountable: a reflection of the founders' belief that an informed and vocal citizenry is the ultimate guardian of liberty," the lawsuit said.
Aaron first released ICEBlock on the App Store in April after a lengthy review from Apple's team, according to the lawsuit. The app allowed users to input sightings of ICE agents in their neighborhood, triggering notifications to people nearby.
The app gained significant traction after it was featured in a CNN report in June, which angered administration officials. Bondi said in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity that Aaron "better watch out," and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons called CNN's decision to report on the app "sickening."
Apple dropped ICE-tracking apps, including ICEBlock, from its store in October. A spokesman for the company said at the time that it pulled the apps "based on information we've received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock." The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Bondi said in October that the Justice Department had demanded that Apple remove the app, saying it was "designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs."
Republican lawmakers have sought to have similar applications removed in recent weeks. A pair of GOP congressmen last week sent letters to Apple and Google executives asking them to detail the steps they are taking to keep such apps off their platforms.
Write to Victoria Albert at victoria.albert@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 08, 2025 14:10 ET (19:10 GMT)
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