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Apple removes apps enabling anonymous reporting of ICE agents

Apple announced Thursday night that it is removing ICEBlock and similar apps from its App Store, which allowed users to anonymously report United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent sightings.

The decision follows pressure from Attorney General Pam Bondi and controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s strict immigration enforcement by ICE and other authorities.

The FBI reported last week that Joshua Jahn, the gunman behind an attack on a Dallas ICE facility that killed two detained immigrants and injured a third, had recently searched apps that track ICE agents’ locations.

Authorities said Jahn intended to target ICE agents during the attack, which ended with him fatally shooting himself.

“We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” Apple said in a statement to NBC News on Thursday.

“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,” the company said.

Fox Business first reported that Apple was removing ICEBlock and other similar apps.

According to app-tracking firm Appfigures, ICEBlock has been downloaded over 1 million times since its launch this year. The app saw a peak of nearly 114,000 downloads in a single day on July 1, following a CNN article that drew criticism from the Trump administration.