Deportation in the USA: How an app is supposed to prevent arrests

For weeks, parts of the USA were the scene of violent clashes. In Los Angeles in particular, tens of thousands demonstrated against the Trump government and the deportation authority ICE, which arrested and imprisoned presumably illegal immigrants. Protesters in LA delivered street battles with the police. US President Donald Trump even sent the national guard to take action against the riots.

A few days ago, the situation in the city center calmed down. The nightly lock was canceled. But the protest is by no means gone. Numerous people still defend themselves against arbitrary justice as they call them. Your protest has apparently hiked – from the street to private.

An app plays a special role in this: As report, the opponents of the deportation measures organize themselves in the “Iceblock” app. The idea behind it: In real time, users can note locations of deportation patrols to warn those affected so that they can escape flee and their possible arrest. It is also possible to describe details, such as the vehicles of the officials or their clothes. Users in a radius of five miles then received a push message on their cell phone with all information.

As “” reports, more than 20,000 users already use the app – especially in Los Angeles. Her developer Joshua Aaron told the broadcaster: “When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to strike back.” The deportation efforts reminded him of Nazi Germany. “We literally see how history is repeated.”

He hoped that these notifications will help people to avoid interactions with the ICE, Aaron said and pointed out that he did not want users to hinder the work of the authority. But that is exactly what the Ministry of Homeland Protection protects him and his app.

Kristi Noem, Minister of Internal Security, criticized the app as a “disability of the judiciary”. In a post on the platform X, she wrote: “Our brave ICE penalization authorities are faced with a 500 percent increase in attacks.

The app also received sharp criticism from the ICE director Todd Lyons. He explained that the application of “basically a target on the back of federal enforcement officers”.

The Trump administration seems to be overwhelmed with this type of guerrilla protest. Also because Aaron has apparently placed particular emphasis on data protection when programming the app. So far, it can only be used on iPhones, because smartphones with Android software would have to collect too much data in order to provide the same result. But this could endanger users.

“We don’t want the device ID, the IP address or the location from anyone,” said Aaron. “We don’t want anything to be found. So the whole thing is 100 percent anonymous and for everyone who wants to use it free of charge.”

In the past few weeks, it has become known that the government increased its efforts to find suspects via digital paths. This is obviously not possible with “Iceblock”. This is also why the app should be a thorn in the side of the officials.

With Trump’s re-election, great tech oligars of Silicon Valley like Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos had been subject to his line-probably for fear of possible financial loss. Aaron, however, does not even think about making his app in money, it is said. He sees it as a service in society.

When asked how he would justify his attitude towards people such as Zuckerberg or Bezos, Aaron said: “I think I would say backbone. He understands that these entrepreneurs would have to take account of their shareholders and have employees who need their salary checks. Nevertheless, he would ask the question: “At what point do you say: ‘Is enough enough?'”