The creator of ICEBlock, an iPhone app that allows users to report sightings of federal immigration agents, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday over alleged violations of free speech.
The app’s website describes ICEBlock as “an innovative, completely anonymous, crowdsourced platform that allows users to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity with just two taps on their phone.”
‘ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs, and violent criminal rings.’
In the lawsuit, the app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, admitted that he created the program in response to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown. Aaron claimed that he feared President Donald Trump’s “incendiary rhetoric about immigration would lead to aggressive, indiscriminate enforcement of immigration laws, exposing immigrants and citizens alike to violence and rampant violations of their civil liberties.”
“Aaron was right,” the lawsuit contended.
Aaron’s complaint accused the Trump administration of retaliation, threats, and false claims, citing comments from several federal officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the app “looks like obstruction of justice,” and Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said it was “not protected speech.”
RELATED: House Democrats’ ICE ‘tracker’ will ‘put our lives in danger’: DHS agent
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
“[Aaron] believes that speech about publicly observed law and immigration enforcement activity — the expression enabled by ICEBlock — lies at the heart of the interests the First Amendment was intended to protect,” the complaint read. “The Bill of Rights — including the First Amendment — was crafted precisely to safeguard the People’s ability to question authority, expose governmental abuse, and hold public officials accountable: a reflection of the founders’ belief that an informed and vocal citizenry is the ultimate guardian of liberty.”
The suit alleged that the app was ultimately removed from Apple’s App Store because of pressure from the Trump administration.
Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs, and violent criminal rings. Our law officers are facing more than a 1,150% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement provided to Blaze News.
“But, of course, the media spins this correct decision for Apple to remove these apps as them caving to pressure instead of preventing further bloodshed and stopping law enforcement from getting killed,” McLaughlin added.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Google Search
