The removal of ICE’s monitoring app nearly a year ago has raised new questions about whether the US Justice Department crossed a constitutional line in its dealings with Apple and Google.
On Friday, House Judiciary Committee member Jamie Raskin vowed to investigate the Justice Department over allegations that it pressured tech giants to remove ICE tracking apps.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Raskin asks, “Why is the Department of Justice (DOJ) violating the First Amendment by forcing big tech to block access to legal applications that the American people use to record, report, and monitor the actions of our own government officials?
It calls the app “totally legal”, which they are. He notes that the First Amendment and subsequent court decisions make it clear that US citizens have the right to record, report, debate and criticize government actions.
Here is the first amendment in full.
Congress shall make no law respecting religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or protecting freedom of speech or the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.
Notably, the feds didn’t use the court system to force Apple and Google to remove the apps. But Bondi went directly to Apple and Google, demanding the app be removed, claiming it was putting agents at risk.
That way, Apple and Google’s removal would be interpreted by law as their own decision, not as a violation of the First Amendment.
Regardless of how the apps were pulled, Raskin refers to the administration’s efforts to remove and ban such apps from the Apple and Android app stores as a campaign of “coercion and censorship” intended to silence critics of the Trump administration. He also suggests that it could “suppress any evidence that would expose the administration’s lies, including its Orwellian attempts to cover up the murders of Renee and Alex.”
Ace Politics he noted on Friday, ultimately Bondi may choose to ignore the letter entirely. However, with half term approaching, this may not be the wisest decision.
ICEBlock, blocked
The story begins in April 2025, when Joshua Aaron released the ICEBlock app. This app allows users to self-report referrals to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the United States.
ICEBlock allowed users to report the location of ICE agents. Sightings were visible within a five-mile radius for four hours, then automatically expired.
In July, Bondi publicly threatened Aaron further Fox News. “We’re watching him,” she said, “and he’d better watch out.”
In October, the Department of Justice asked both Apple and Google to remove ICEBlock. Apple removed ICEBlock and defended the Justice Department’s logic, saying the company had received information about “security risks associated with ICEBlock.”
For its part, the administration says the removal of the apps was necessary to prevent violent actions against federal immigration agents. Attorney General Bondi claimed the app was used to orchestrate attacks against ICE agents — although no evidence of such attacks ever emerged.
In December, the House Homeland Security Committee sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking for details on how the companies are preventing more ICE monitoring apps from appearing in their respective stores. They continued to push the narrative that these kinds of apps risk “compromising the security of (Department of Homeland Security) personnel.”
In the wake of ICEBlock’s removal, protesters dressed as Santa appeared outside Apple Pioneer Place in Portland, Oregon, demanding the return of ICEBlock. In addition, Aaron has retained counsel and prepared to sue the US government on the grounds that no entity has the power to compel a private entity, publicly or privately, intentionally or unintentionally, to perform an action.