Apple removes apps secretly tracking movements of ICE agents: Trump pressure at work?

Apple has removed all apps used to track the movements of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents anonymously after receiving considerable pressure from the Trump administration.

The now-deleted apps were being increasingly used by officials after President Donald Trump ramped up his anti-immigration drive in the country and subsequent deportation drives became rampant in most cities.

Why have the apps been removed?

Trump administration officials had fiercely criticised the apps as endangering officers, particularly following a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas last month. They argued that the suspected shooter had used such an app before he opened fire at the facility.

Two detainees died as a result of the shooting and another was wounded, though investigators believe the shooter was targeting ICE personnel.

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.

What are the apps in question?

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

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.”

Apple did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

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.”

With inputs from AFP