Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday that “ICEBlock,” an app designed to alert individuals of immigration enforcement operations, appeared to constitute obstruction of justice.
“This sure looks like obstruction of justice,” Noem wrote on X, responding to a CNN segment about the controversial app.
She also warned that the app threatens the safety of ICE agents by putting a target on their backs.
“Our brave ICE law enforcement face a 500% increase in assaults against them,” she said.
“If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
This sure looks like obstruction of justice. Our brave ICE law enforcement face a 500% increase in assaults against them.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) June 30, 2025
If you obstruct or assault our law enforcement, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. pic.twitter.com/4ZcfrpyRV1
Noem’s comments followed a CNN story on tech developer Joshua Aaron, who created ICEBlock to push back against President Donald Trump’s ICE raids across the country.
ICEBlock works by encouraging users to report suspected ICE sightings and broadcasts alerts to others nearby.
The app now has more than 20,000 users.
“When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” Aaron told CNN, before comparing ICE raids to operations similar of Nazi Germany. “We’re literally watching history repeat itself.”
According to Aaron, the app does not collect personal data and allows users to report ICE sightings anonymously.
“We don’t want anybody’s device ID, IP address, location,” Aaron said.
“We don’t want anything being discoverable. And so, this is 100% anonymous and free for anybody who wants to use it.”
During Monday afternoon’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped CNN for what had seemed to her like “unacceptable” behavior by “a major network” in “promot[ing]” the app...
.@realDailyWire’s @MaryMargOlohan: “I just watched a CNN segment on a new app called ICEBlock and it kind of appeared to be promoting this app where you can tell people where ICE agents are. Given the recent rise in —”@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “An app that tells people where… pic.twitter.com/nOK9JDP25O
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 30, 2025
"...surely it sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers. As you know — as you stated, there has been a 500% increase in violence against ICE agents, law enforcement oficcers across the country who are just simply trying to do their job and remove public safety threats from our communities. And that’s something we, as Americans, including journalists at CNN, who live in many of these cities where illegal aliens are hiding and were let in from the previous administration, should be very grateful for. So, we haven’t seen the clip. We’ll take a look at it, but certainly it’s unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe."
