App For Reporting ICE Sightings Sees Download Surge After White House Backlash

A new platform that encourages users to share information about sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nearby rose to the top of the Apple App Store this week, amid criticism from Trump administration officials who say the app could put agents at risk.

ICEBlock, which launched in April, made headlines after a CNN article about it was called out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons on Monday. Both cited concerns over agent safety in their statements about the app, stating that “agents are facing a 500% increase in assaults.”

But Joshua Aaron, ICEBlock’s Texas-based developer, called the administration’s recent criticism “another right-wing fearmongering scare tactic,” telling NBC News in a phone interview on Tuesday that his app was designed to be a resource for immigrants who are fearful they will get deported.

He said he felt like he was “watching history repeat itself” when he saw things like “5-year-olds in courtrooms with no representation” and “college students being disappeared for their political opinions.”

“When I saw what was happening in this country, I really just wanted to do something to help fight back,” said Aaron, a onetime musician who spent several months working on the app.

“I grew up in a Jewish household, and being part of the Jewish community, I had the chance to meet Holocaust survivors and learn the history of what happened in Nazi Germany, and the parallels that we can draw between what’s happening right now in our country and Hitler’s rise to power are undeniable.”