“ICE tracking apps and websites directly put the lives of ICE law enforcement and their families in danger,” the DHS said.
House Democrats will be launching a "master ICE tracker" that would track the locations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents based on community reports. Apps that have attempted to do the same, to alert people to where ICE is conducting immigration enforcement, have been banned from app stores.
Rep. Robert Garcia said in a press conference on Tuesday, "over the course of the next couple of weeks, the Oversight Committee will be launching on their website a master ICE tracker where we’re going to be essentially tracking every single instance that we can verify that the community will send, be able to send us the information on. It’ll all be available in one central place."
He said in terms of gathering information, "the most important thing is that people are safe and that those that are watching something occurring, first and foremost, think about their own safety in how they are engaging with law enforcement or whatever they are recording. And of course, if they are able and safe to record what is happening, we encourage them to communicate that to local groups on the ground, elected officials and offices. They can communicate the information with the Oversight Committee."
The Department of Homeland Security said in response to the announcement, "ICE tracking apps and websites directly put the lives of ICE law enforcement and their families in danger. Less than a month after a deranged gunman — who used an ICE tracking app to plan his attack — opened fire at the Dallas ICE facility, California politicians are pushing to publicize information would further jeopardize officer safety."
"Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties or assaults law enforcement, including U.S. citizens, will face consequences."
Attorney General Pam Bondi said, "Shutdown Democrats are already refusing to pay our law enforcement agents. Now, Rep Robert Garcia and Sen Richard Blumenthal are trying to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs." She said the DOJ has "ZERO tolerance for violence against law enforcement — we will prosecute any person who physically assaults our agents."
The popular ICE tracking app ICEBlock was dropped by Apple's App Store earlier in October at the request of the Department of Justice. It was revealed that the suspect who shot at a Dallas ICE facility, killing two, used the app. Facebook has removed a group dedicated to tracking ICE agents in Chicago after a similar request from the DOJ.
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