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FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans is calling for an “immediate” probe into an app that allows people to track federal immigration actions in real time.
House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, R-Texas, and Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said the ICEBlock app “paints targets” on the backs of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents throughout the U.S., and asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether the program’s creators are violating federal law.
“We are disturbed to learn that the developers of this app may be encouraging people to interfere with and evade lawful ICE operations designed to remove criminals from our streets. While the creators of this app claim to promote ‘awareness,’ their actions actively undermine the integrity of our justice system,” their letter to Bondi said.
“The development and use of this app is not simply neighborhood awareness; it is a blatant interference with agency operations that has the potential to put government agents in danger and even cost them their lives.”
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Lawmakers fear a new app will enable anti-ICE protesters to confront federal immigration authorities (Minh Connors/Anadolu via Getty Images and ICE)
The memo was signed by five other House lawmakers: Reps. Randy Weber, R-Texas; Michael Rulli, R-Ohio; Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.; Mark Alford, R-Mo., and Brad Finstad, R-Minn.
It comes as the Trump administration’s severe crackdown on illegal immigration continues to be a political flashpoint between the right and left.
Both sides have accused the other of acting outside the scope of federal law. Democrats have claimed the Trump administration is using dubious legal justifications to carry out President Donald Trump’s deportation goals, while Republicans argue that left-wing officials’ opposition to ICE amounts to impeding federal authorities.
The ICEBlock app appears to be another bid to block federal immigration authorities. Its description on the Apple App Store reads, “Stay informed about reported ICE sightings, within a 5 miles radius of your current location, in real-time while maintaining your privacy. ICEBlock is a community-driven app that allows you to share and discover location-based reports without revealing any personal data.”
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House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams is co-leading the letter with Rep. Pat Fallon.
Bondi herself warned developer Joshua Aaron to “watch out” in an appearance on “Hannity.”
Aaron told Los Angeles Magazine he created the app to “fight back” against what he saw as a rise in authoritarian tactics.
“Imagine you’re walking down the street, and a notification comes up that says, ‘ICE spotted four blocks ahead’…Instead of continuing down that path, you can turn left or turn around and avoid the situation altogether,” he told the outlet.
The lawmakers’ letter said, “ICE operations are designed to remove dangerous criminals from our streets. This app, labeled as an ‘early warning system,’ deliberately alerts the public to the whereabouts of ICE agents, which gives individuals who are here illegally or have a criminal record time to hide or evade apprehension.”
“This app not only hinders criminal apprehension efforts but also makes the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security’s mission of protecting public safety more difficult,” they wrote.
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They argued that public knowledge of ICE raids led to the chaos in Los Angeles, when protesters clashed with law enforcement for several days.
“Given the severity of this issue, we respectfully request that the Department of Justice begin an immediate investigation into ‘ICEBlock’ and its developers to determine whether it violates federal laws pertaining to obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting fugitives,” they wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for comment. Fox News Digital also reached out to the developer of ICEBlock via the app’s website.