When a tech developer creates an app to track law enforcement and a national media outlet promotes it, one must ask, who truly benefits?
At a Glance
- CNN is facing fierce backlash for promoting a new smartphone app, “ICEBlock,” that tracks the real-time location of ICE agents.
- Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons slammed the coverage, saying the app “paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs.”
- Former ICE Director Tom Homan has called for the Department of Justice to investigate CNN for promoting the app.
- The controversy comes as DHS reports a nearly 500% increase in assaults on ICE officers.
An App That “Paints a Target” on Law Enforcement
A new smartphone app called “ICEBlock,” which allows users to report and track the real-time locations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, has ignited a firestorm of controversy after being featured in a sympathetic segment on CNN. The app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, claims it is an “early warning system” for immigrant communities, but law enforcement officials are calling it a dangerous tool that puts their officers’ lives at risk.
The acting director of ICE, Todd M. Lyons, released a blistering statement condemning CNN’s promotion of the app. “Advertising an app that basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs is sickening,” Lyons said. “My officers and agents are already facing a nearly 500% increase in assaults, and going on live television to announce an app that lets anyone zero in on their locations is like inviting violence against them with a national megaphone.”
A Call for a DOJ Investigation
The condemnation was echoed even more forcefully by former ICE Director Tom Homan, now serving as a White House “border czar.” In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Homan called for the Department of Justice to launch a full investigation into CNN’s actions.
“It’s disgusting,” Homan said. “It’s only a matter of time before someone sits in hiding and waits for an ICE agent and tries to take them out. It is horrendous that a national media outlet is trying to forecast law enforcement operations.”
ICE chief slams CNN for promoting app that tracks immigration raids https://t.co/ysfXr4G3Nf
— The Zambian Observer (@ZambianObserver) July 1, 2025
Media Activism or Reckless Endangerment?
CNN’s decision to feature the app has been slammed by critics as a clear example of the network prioritizing a left-wing activist agenda over the safety of federal law enforcement. In his statement, detailed by The Western Journal, Director Lyons questioned the network’s motives. “CNN is willfully endangering the lives of officers who put their lives on the line every day and enabling dangerous criminal aliens to evade U.S. law. Is this simply reckless ‘journalism’ or overt activism?”
The controversy highlights a growing and dangerous trend of hostility toward the law enforcement officers tasked with securing the nation’s borders, a trend that critics argue is being actively fueled by major media outlets.
