ICEBlock sues Trump over Apple app takedown
The developer of ICEBlock filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8, alleging the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by threatening prosecution and pressuring Apple to remove the ICE-tracking alert app from the App Store in October. The suit cites Attorney General Pam Bondi’s public statements as evidence of coercion; DOJ and Apple did not comment. ICEBlock lets users anonymously report nearby ICE sightings, which the White House has argued endangers agents, a claim the developer disputes.
📌 Key Facts
- Filed Dec. 8, 2025 in federal court in Washington, D.C.
- Alleges unconstitutional 'jawboning' by the administration to compel Apple to remove a U.S.-based app
- Cites AG Pam Bondi’s statement that the White House asked Apple to remove ICEBlock and her separate on-air warning to the developer
- Apple removed ICEBlock from the App Store in October; the lawsuit does not name Apple as a defendant
- ICEBlock reports ICE sightings within a 5-mile radius; alerts expire after four hours and do not include photos or video
📊 Relevant Data
An analysis of federal court records shows about a 25% rise in charges for assault against federal officers through mid-September 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.
White House claims "more than 1,000%" rise in assaults on ICE agents, data says otherwise — NPR
The Department of Homeland Security reported that more than 527,000 illegal aliens were removed from the US as of October 2025 under the Trump administration, with 70% of ICE arrests being of criminal illegal aliens.
DHS Removes More than Half a Million Illegal Aliens From US — Department of Homeland Security
In 2023, the unauthorized immigrant population in the US reached 14 million, accounting for 4.1% of the total US population, with 30% from Mexico (4.3 million) and significant increases from South America (+1.3 million from 2021).
U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Reached a Record 14 Million in 2023 — Pew Research Center
From 2012 to 2016 in Texas, undocumented immigrants had a 47.1% lower arrest rate for violent crimes compared to U.S.-born citizens, with undocumented immigrants comprising about 7% of the state's population during that period.
Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born US citizens in Texas — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences