MENDOCINO CO., 7/1/25 — An immigration app called ICEBlock, released earlier this year, allows users to report sightings of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity within a five-mile radius of their location.
The app, created by developer Joshua Aaron, was released in early April in response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown on both undocumented and documented immigrants. According to CNN, the app has approximately 20,000 users, with a large portion of them residing in the Los Angeles area.
In Mendocino County, the app could be helpful for locals who want a single platform showing aggregated data of ICE sightings and want to help immigrants protect themselves.
“I think it’s only a helpful tool with the perspective of the more information the better,” said immigration attorney Liliana Gallelli, who represents clients in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. “I know there is controversy about circumventing laws and helping people avoid ICE agents, but I feel that the execution of immigration enforcement has been outside of the law and avoiding contact with ICE agents is a major protection.”
While the federal government’s assertive immigration policies have led to protests across the U.S., Aaron’s app allows community members to access a map where they can add a pin where they have seen ICE agents. Users can also add notes of what the agents were wearing and what type of vehicle they were driving. Then, other users within a five-mile radius of the pin location will receive a notification of the sighting.
Aaron emphasized that he does not want users to disrupt ICE operations. A notice shown when users log in reads: “Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only. It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement.”
On Monday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons published a statement criticizing CNN’s report on the new app. Lyons wrote that the app “basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs.”
According to Aaron, ICEBlock does not collect users’ private data, and submissions are made anonymously. The app is currently available only on iOS and is free to download. To increase accuracy, users are limited to submitting one sighting every five minutes, and all reports are automatically deleted after four hours.
Currently, this is only available for iPhone.
I just downloaded it and the location part of the service is very accurate.
Great story Sydney! It’s in the grand tradition of the press of representing the people and the oppressed, not just the government. Very rare to see any media be willing to do that now or do enterprise reporting, almost everything published now is generated by government, sent out by press releases and dutifully reported without question. Great work!