Bondi, Noem Sued for Pushing Apple to Block Anti-ICE App

US Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi violated the First Amendment by pressuring Apple Inc. to bar access to ICEBlock, an application that allowed members of the public to report the locations of ICE agents, a new lawsuit alleges.

This conduct requires a court order declaring that Bondi unlawfully coerced Apple, and an injunction to prevent Trump officials from threatening or pressuring potential ICEBlock distributors, software developer Joshua Aaron told the US District Court for the District of Columbia in a Monday complaint. Apple isn’t a defendant in this suit.

The court should also order Trump officials to stop threatening prosecution for the development, distribution, and promotion of the application, Aaron says. Apple approved ICEBlock for distribution in April 2025.

Aaron, who opposes the Trump Administration’s approach to immigration enforcement, began coding the application that became ICEBlock early this year as a way to alert people to nearby, community-reported sightings of ICE personnel.

Following a televised report about the application, several Trump officials communicated their opposition to it, including US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and White House border czar Thomas Homan.

Bondi, several months later, stated that she used her power to secure the removal of ICEBlock from the App Store. “For what appears to be the first time in Apple’s nearly fifty-year history,” the complaint says, “Apple removed a U.S.-based app in response to the U.S. government’s demands.”

Her demand to remove ICEBlock constitutes a scheme of state censorship that’s designed to suppress protected publication and distribution of a software program via threats of criminal prosecution, the complaint says.

Statements from other officials stating that Aaron acted illegally, the complaint says, are reasonably understood to convey a threat of adverse government action against any entity that makes the application available.

Neither Apple nor the DOJ immediately responded to a request for comment.

Sher Tremonte LLP represents Aaron and plaintiff All U Chart Inc.

The case is Aaron v. Bondi, D.D.C., No. 24-cv-4250, complaint 12/8/25.