Judge says White House can’t ‘strong-arm’ Apple into blocking ICE trackers Ben Lovejoy | Apr 20 2026 - 5:39 am PT
A judge has ruled that the Trump administration should not have coerced Apple and Google into taking down apps which track the activity of ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
A preliminary injunction has been awarded, with the creators of ICE Sightings and Eyes Up told that they are likely to succeed in their argument that the government suppressed protected speech under the First Amendment …
A quick recap on the ICE tracker controversy
The debate was first prompted by an app called ICEBlock that allowed people to report sightings of ICE agents in their area. In a classic demonstration of the Streisand Effect, the app shot to the top of the App Store when it was condemned by the White House.
In a subsequent development that seemed to be straight from a mob movie, the US Attorney General said the developer “had better watch out.” Apple later removed the app from its App Store, with US lawmakers asking the company what steps it was taking to prevent similar tools being uploaded. Meta also took down a Facebook group intended to fulfill the same function.
The House Judiciary Committee then launched an investigation into whether the DOJ applied unlawful pressure to Apple and Google to remove these apps.
Judge grants developers an injunction
The creators of ICE Sightings and Eyes Up took the matter to court, arguing that the government was suppressing speech protected by the First Amendment. As Engadget reports, an injunction has now been granted pending a full hearing, with the judge indicating that the developers are also likely to prevail there.
A judge has granted the makers of the “ICE Sightings – Chicagoland” Facebook group and the Eyes Up app a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration from coercing platforms to take these projects down.
Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that the plaintiffs, Kassandra Rosado and Kreisau Group, are likely to succeed in their case, which alleges that the government suppressed protected speech under the First Amendment by strong-arming Facebook and Apple into removing ICE monitoring efforts.
The plaintiffs are being backed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) non-profit, which welcomed the development.
A federal district court, siding with FIRE in our lawsuit, will block the federal government from strongarming Apple and Facebook into not carrying two platforms that reported on ICE activity using publicly available information.
FIRE said it was “extremely encouraged” by the ruling.
Timing of CEO change spells good things for Apple’s April 30th earnings report Tuesday, April 21, 2026 1:30 pm 1 Comment
Apple’s announcement that Tim Cook will step down as CEO to become executive chairman — with hardware engineering chief John Ternus taking over as CEO on September 1st — is being viewed positively by Wall Street analysts for the company’s upcoming fiscal second-quarter earnings report, due on April 30th.
Tobias Burns for CNBC:
Announcements on leadership changes are always sensitive matters for companies, so the fact that Apple’s torch-passing is happening about a week out from earnings is suggesting to analysts that the company may have some good news on the horizon.
“My gut tells me this was announced before earnings so we can focus on a great quarter with strong fundamentals next week when Apple reports,” Ben Reitzes, head of technology research at Melius, wrote in a Monday note to investors. “Cook was CEO a long time and likely wants to leave on a high note.”
Analysts for Bank of America had much the same intuition on Monday about near-term performance.
“Near-term results are extremely resilient given that Apple will likely plan such changes from a position of strong business momentum,” Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan and colleagues wrote in a Monday note to investors.
MacDailyNews Take: Earnings will be strong.
The consensus estimate for second-quarter earnings per share is $1.94 on revenue of $109.35 billion, according to FactSet. Based on 54 analysts, the stock currently carries a price target of $301.62.
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