New app shows users when ICE agents are in their area

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Like Waze, “but for ICE sightings.” That’s how the creators of a new iPhone app that allows users to report Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity are describing the application. The app is called ICEBlock and allows users to report ICE activity on their phone with just a couple of taps.

ICEBlock, according to the app’s website, is a “completely anonymous crowdsourced platform.” The app is modeled after Waze, the crowdsourced driving directions app.

The anonymous app ensures privacy by not sharing user’s personal data, which the developers say makes it “impossible to trace reports back to individual users.”

“ICEBlock empowers communities to stay informed about ICE presence within a 5-mile radius while maintaining their anonymity through real-time updates and automatic deletion of sightings after four hours,” the app’s website explains.

But the app has drawn some backlash, particularly from ICE officials. ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons issued a statement slamming the app as “sickening” and calling the media’s coverage of ICEBlock “reckless and irresponsible.”

“My officers and agents are already facing a 500% increase in assaults, and going on live television to announce an app that lets anyone zero in on their locations is like inviting violence against them with a national megaphone,” Lyons said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued a statement on X, criticizing the app.

“This sure looks like obstruction of justice,” Noem said. “Our brave ICE law enforcement faces a 500% increase in assaults against them. If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Currently, the ICEBlock app is exclusively available for iOS devices. As of Tuesday morning, the app was ranked no. 1 for social networking apps in the Apple App Store.

ICE sightings in the Bay Area and across the nation have spiked in recent months as President Donald Trump has ratcheted up anti-immigration efforts. The agency has reportedly been tasked with making a minimum of 3,000 arrests daily.