ICE condemns app that tracks immigration agents in real time
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials tcondemned a newly introduced iPhone app that lets users anonymously report sightings of ICE activity in real time, warning it puts officers in danger.
The app, called ICEBlock , is modeled after Waze but for immigration enforcement. It allows users to pinpoint ICE locations on a map, add details about what they witnessed and send push alerts to others within a five-mile radius.
'In recent years, ICE has faced criticism for alleged civil rights abuses and failures to adhere to constitutional principles and due process, making it crucial for communities to stay informed about its operations,' according to a statement on the app's website.
Posts are deleted after four hours, and users can only report once every five minutes within their area to prevent spam, according to the website. Its slogan reads, 'See something, tap something.'
ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons called the app dangerous.
'Advertising an app that basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers' backs is sickening,' he said in a statement. 'My officers and agents are already facing a 500% increase in assaults.'
Developer Joshua Aaron described ICEBlock as a grassroots initiative to keep communities informed about ICE activity.
'When I saw what was going on in this country, I just really felt like I had to do something,' he said in an interview with Time , referring to immigration enforcement raids following President Donald Trump's return to the White House. 'The app is to inform, not obstruct. This is to have people avoid having that confrontation in the first place.'
ICEBlock , which became available to iPhone users in April, is currently available only on iOS devices and, according to its website, stores no personal data, making it impossible to trace reports back to individual users.
Trump's latest immigration crackdown sparked mass protests in Los Angeles, where he deployed the California National Guard and later the Marines without Gov Gavin Newsom's consent. A court ultimately ruled Trump could keep control of the National Guard in the city. – Los Angeles Daily News/Tribune News Service
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
24 minutes ago
- The Star
1st LD Writethru: 4 injured after man attacks passengers on German train
BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A 20-year-old Syrian man attacked passengers with an axe and a hammer aboard an Intercity Express (ICE) train in the southern German state of Bavaria on Thursday, injuring four people, police confirmed in a statement. The suspect was subdued by fellow passengers and later taken into custody by emergency services. He sustained serious injuries during the incident and is currently receiving medical treatment. Among the injured are three Syrian nationals aged 15, 24, and 51, along with a 38-year-old man whose nationality has not been disclosed. All four are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to medical sources. The attack occurred at around 1:55 p.m. local time (1155 GMT) aboard ICE train 91, which was traveling from Hamburg-Altona to Vienna, Austria, carrying approximately 430 passengers. Authorities have not released any information regarding the motive, and investigations are ongoing.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Putin tells Trump he won't back down from goals in Ukraine, Kremlin says
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks during a plenary session of a forum organised by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) in Moscow, Russia, July 3, 2025. Sputnik/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call on Thursday that Moscow wants a negotiated end to the Ukraine war but will not step back from its original goals, a Kremlin aide said. In a wide-ranging conversation that also covered Iran and the Middle East, Trump "again raised the issue of an early end to military action" in Ukraine, the aide, Yuri Ushakov, told reporters. "Vladimir Putin, for his part, noted that we continue to seek a political and negotiated solution to the conflict," Ushakov said. Putin briefed Trump on the implementation of agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine last month to exchange prisoners-of-war and dead soldiers, Ushakov said, and told him that Moscow was ready to continue negotiations with Kyiv. "Our president also said that Russia will achieve the goals it has set: that is, the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs, to the current acute confrontation, and Russia will not back down from these goals," he added. There was nothing in the Kremlin readout to suggest that Putin had made any shift in Moscow's position during the conversation with Trump, who took office with a promise to end the war swiftly but has voiced frequent frustration with the lack of progress between the two sides. The phrase "root causes" is shorthand for the Kremlin's argument that it was compelled to go to war in Ukraine to prevent the country from joining NATO and being used by the Western alliance as a launch pad to attack Russia. Ukraine and its European allies say that is a specious pretext for what they call an imperial-style war, but Trump in previous public comments has shown sympathy with Moscow's refusal to accept NATO membership for Ukraine. Putin and Trump did not talk about the U.S. decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine, Ushakov said. On Iran, he said, "the Russian side emphasised the importance of resolving all disputes, disagreements and conflict situations exclusively by political and diplomatic means". Trump last month sent U.S. military bombers to strike three Iranian nuclear sites, in a move condemned by Moscow as unprovoked and illegal. (Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Lucy Papachristou)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Congo, M23 rebels plan return to Qatar talks amid Trump pressure
FILE PHOTO: Members of the M23 rebel group ride on their vehicles after the opening ceremony of Caisse Generale d'epargne du Congo in Goma, North Kivu province in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File Photo (Reuters) -Congo's government and Rwanda-backed rebels said on Thursday they would send delegations back to Qatar for peace talks, as Washington pushes for an end to fighting that could help unlock billions in mining investments. M23 holds more territory than ever before in eastern Congo after staging a lightning advance earlier this year. The fighting, the latest flare-up in a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide three decades ago, has killed thousands of people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is trying to broker a peace deal between Rwanda and Congo that would bring billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. Qatar is hosting a separate but parallel mediation effort with delegations from the Democratic Republic of Congo government and M23. Last week the Rwandan and Congolese foreign ministers signed a peace accord in Washington, pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days. The top diplomats also met with Trump, who invited Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to Washington to sign a package of deals that Massad Boulos, Trump's senior adviser for Africa, dubbed the "Washington Accord". Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Boulos said the Trump administration would "love" to hold that meeting at the end of July. But he also said U.S. officials hope to have a deal in Doha finalised by then. SLOW PROGRESS At a press conference on Thursday, their first since last week's signing ceremony in Washington, an M23 official said rebel delegates would return to Doha but accused Kinshasa of not taking the process seriously. "Since the signing of the Washington agreement, we have been contacted three times by the Qatari mediator to resume dialogue," said Benjamin Mbonimpa, one of the M23 delegates who has taken part in the Doha dialogue. The rebels are still insisting on progress on preconditions such as the release of imprisoned M23 fighters and the reopening of banks in rebel-held territory, he said. Congo's presidency said in a statement to Reuters that government delegates were also returning to Doha. The latest report by a panel of United Nations experts, obtained this week by Reuters, said Rwanda has exercised command and control over M23 during their advance. Rwanda has denied backing M23 militarily and a government spokesperson said this week the report "misrepresents Rwanda's longstanding security concerns" in eastern Congo, notably the presence of ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 genocide. Despite remaining hurdles to ending the long-running conflict, Boulos said on Wednesday he was "optimistic" because Tshisekedi and Kagame were serious about reaching a deal. (Reporting by Congo newsroom, Ange Adihe Kasongo in Kinshasa, Stanis Bujakera in Washington; writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; editing by Mark Heinrich)
