As protests continue across the U.S. over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, one app is offering a more discreet way to resist. Developers created “ICEBlock,” a new iPhone app that alerts users about nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.
How does ICEBlock work?
The app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, said ICEBlock serves as an “early warning system.”
Users can drop a pin on a digital map that shows where they last saw ICE agents. The users can also include a note describing details about the officers or their vehicles. Anyone else with the app and in a five-mile radius will then get a notification about the sighting.
Aaron told CNN the goal isn’t to interfere with ICE operations, but rather to help people avoid agents.
How does the app protect users?
Aaron said the app doesn’t collect personal data and keeps users anonymous. Currently, the app is only available on iPhones because Apple’s system doesn’t require the kind of user data Android apps typically collect.
He said there are currently about 20,000 users, many of them in Los Angeles, where protesters have been the most active.
Can users trust the reports?
Unbiased. Straight Facts.TM
There are currently more than 50,000 migrants being held in ICE custody, higher than the 41,500 detainee beds approved by Congress.
While there is no way yet to verify reports made on the app, Aaron said there are some safeguards in place to keep people from spamming it with fake reports.
Users can only report sightings within five miles of their current location and can only make one report every five minutes. All reports are automatically deleted after four hours.
These rules aim to balance accessibility with accountability.
How much does it cost?
ICEBLock is completely free. Aaron told CNN he has no plans to monetize the platform, saying it’s a community service.
Even as many tech leaders have embraced President Donald Trump’s push for more domestic manufacturing, Aaron said the bottom line isn’t the only thing to consider.
“I think I would say grow a backbone. You can’t just be about the money,” Aaron said when CNN asked him what he would say to those tech leaders.
Not the only option
ICEBlock is part of a growing wave of grassroots tech tools developed in response to increased immigration enforcement
SignalSafe is another mapping app that collects anonymous alerts about ICE agent sightings. Users can submit photos, videos and text notes with their submissions.
The TurnLeft PAC is also working to launch what it calls “ResistMap.” It will work similarly to ICEBlock, requiring users to submit sightings via a form, then displaying them on a map. Users can also opt in for text alerts.
ICE detentions at record high
According to CBS News, the Trump administration is currently detaining about 59,000 people nationwide, exceeding the 41,500-bed cap approved by Congress.
Trump has said his intentions are to focus on detaining immigrants with criminal records, but data shows that’s not what’s happening. According to CBS News, 47% of those currently detained have no criminal record at all, and 30% have not been convicted of a crime.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reported that, as of June 15, ICE was holding 56,397 immigrants, and nearly 72% of them had no criminal record.
On June 3, NBC News reported a record-setting ICE raid that detained 2,200 people in a single day.
