Posted on by

Judge Rules Removing ICE Tracking Apps Illegal

Reading Time: 3 minutes.
A totally real and not fake at all ICE seal

I propose this becomes the real ICE seal

Under Trump, ICE has become a masked gestapo—not that it was ever good before—kicking down doors, arresting people for their racial traits alone, dragging children, cuffed and unclothed, into the street, kidnapping citizens, and even killing people without any present danger or cause. Naturally, decent Americans have stood up, protesting, raising awareness, and sharing information on ICE to help people avoid dangerous and often deadly confrontations with Trump’s racist patrols. They’ve been using apps and social media profiles to protect and inform their neighbors. This angered members of the Trump regime. They pressured Apple, Google, and Meta into removing their ICE tracking apps and webpages.

A judge issued a preliminary injunction against the DOJ for their attack on these companies and their users’ freedom of speech. Now the apps and pages may return, giving communities a way to protect themselves.

Trump Regime Pressured Companies

“We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store — and Apple did so.”

– Pam Bondi, Trump’s Attorney General

I reported on this before, but as a recap, the Trump administration decided to call these ICE tracking apps dangerous to ICE agents. Of course, it’s ICE agents who are a danger to the communities they enter, not the other way around. ICE has already harmed or killed people they interact with, including protesters, people simply trying to drive through their community, and a record number of deaths in ICE facilities. In 2004, 28 people died during the entire year in ICE facilities. It was the worst year on record until this year. Since October, just half a year ago, the Trump regime’s ICE detention centers saw the deaths of 29 people, many of them preventable. Trump’s ICE detention camps are more dangerous now than ICE facilities were during COVID or at their worst time, and the year is only halfway done.

People have damn good reason to avoid ICE agents, and these apps, social media websites, text alerts, and other forms of tracking and alerting neighbors keep people safe. Fortunately, warning people of dangers in their neighborhood is free speech.

While Apple and Google removed their ICE tracking apps after Trump administration officials pressured them, free speech may win out.

The Ruling

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), brought a lawsuit against the DOJ arguing that reporting on ICE is a first amendment right and the government, in pressuring companies to remove these apps and pages, stifled free speech. If we weren’t living under a fascist government, this would be obvious. Unfortunately, we needed another lawsuit to decide what other cases, such as those that report the location of police officers and red light cameras to drivers, are legal, protected speech.

The case hasn’t been decided yet, but Judge Jorge L. Alonso made a preliminary ruling in favor of FIRE and the app developers and pages they represent. This means the U.S. government can no longer pressure companies to remove these apps. He specifically cited a case in New York, where the state was found to be violating first amendment rights of business owners when they tried to block contrasts to businesses with ties to the NRA. By picking a conservative-aligned, unanimous Supreme Court case to serve as the basis of the ruling, he made fighting back against it exceptionally difficult.

“Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors”

– Judge Jorge L. Alonso

ICE Sightings, Chicago Land, and Eyes Up were involved with the case. However, the ruling from the case will protect any app or website that discusses the whereabouts of ICE.

Future for Speech

The Trump regime has made speech dangerous. With the DOJ reportedly building out lists of people who are against ICE or simply anti-fascist, there’s a fear among everyone from leftists to center-leaning conservatives that any speech right now that differs from the far-right could be dangerous. That includes the words I’m writing to the screen right now. The fear, I’ll admit, is very real. But without taking that risk, no one will know that the far right is just that, an extremist viewpoint on the far end of the political spectrum. They are a minority, and one that seeks to prevent the very speech that could dismantle their governments through encouraging political action. We have to speak out, it’s the best way to defend our rights.

As of this writing, these apps are not back on the App Store yet. However, thanks to this ruling, they may be back online again soon. Many, including the popular ICE Block app, have continue working after being removed from the App Store. Those who had the app already could continue to use it. However, once these apps are back on the App Store and Google Play, we’ll be far better protected.

The future of speech is in danger, but, fortunately, speaking out seems to be working to protect us.

Sources
,