WASHINGTON: Apple removed on Thursday several apps used to anonymously report the movements of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from its app store, reportedly following Trump administration pressure.

The apps had become increasingly popular in recent months as President Donald Trump’s deportation drive gained steam in cities around the country.

But Trump administration officials had fiercely criticised the apps as endangering officers, particularly following a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas last month.

Officials said the shooter had used such an app in the days leading up to his attack.

Two detainees died as a result of the shooting.

Protests have occurred at ICE facilities and during ICE operations around the country, as Trump’s mass deportation drive has seen thousands of migrants rounded up, often by masked agents.

ICE tracking apps, including the popular ICEBlock, were inaccessible to reporters on the Apple App Store.

Fox Business first reported on the apps’ removal, with Attorney General Pam Bondi telling the news outlet that the Justice Department had “reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store and Apple did so”.

In a statement to NBC News, the company said: “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.”

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2025