A Brown County man says an app he created to monitor ICE activity was removed from Apple’s App Store at the request of the Trump administration.
INDIANAPOLIS — A federal judge in Illinois ruled in favor of an Indiana man who sued the Trump administration, claiming they pressured Apple to remove his app that shows Immigration Customs and Enforcement activity.
Mark Hodges, from Brown County, created “Eyes Up” in August 2025. People can upload and view photos and videos of ICE activity. A map shows where each photo or video was taken.
“I’ve never been strongly affiliated with any political party, so this is not a political project,” Hodges said. “I saw that something was wrong. I saw that something was happening that should not be happening, and I also saw the potential for evidence of this to disappear. It’s essentially a way to hold the government accountable, a way to document what’s happening when it comes to law enforcement in public places.”
The Department of Homeland Security has argued apps like Eyes Up interfere with ICE agents’ jobs and can lead to violence against officers, but Hodges said his app doesn’t track ICE activity in real time. He said moderators do a thorough review, such as verifying authenticity and location, before approving a post. That process can take 24 to 48 hours, sometimes longer.
“We don’t want real-time information floating around there. We don’t want anyone involved in any of these situations to be put in any danger,” Hodges said.
In October, Hodges said Apple removed Eyes Up from the App Store, at the request of the Trump administration, leading The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression to file a lawsuit on his behalf in February. The First Amendment watchdog group alleges it’s a violation of constitutional rights.
“They said, ‘The government has provided us with information, and we’re acting on that information,’” Hodges said.
Apple said Eyes Up violated its guidelines because “its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers,” according to court documents.
Around the same time in October, similar apps, including ICEBlock, were also removed after threats from then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, lawyers for Hodges say.
According to court documents, Bondi made a statement to Fox News saying, “We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store – and Apple did so.” She later said, “We’re not going to stop at just arresting the violent criminals we can see in the streets,” court documents say.
On Friday, April 17, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction, ruling in favor of Hodges. The injunction blocks the government from forcing the platforms to censor the content.
“The First Amendment protects our right to share information about our government, including reporting on what law enforcement does in public. This is a very encouraging ruling, and we look forward to fully vindicating our clients’ rights as the case progresses,” senior attorney Colin McDonell said in a statement to 13News.
The judge said Apple had previously reviewed Eyes Up and determined its content met its requirements.
“Apple was very thorough in their review. Initially, we went back and forth on some technical requirements, some policy requirements,” Hodges said. “They could see from the very beginning the content of this app. Because it was live, it was fully functioning, they could see exactly what it was going to be used for, and they approved it with no issue.”
The judge went on to write that Apple changed its position after defendants contacted them, saying the defendants “demanded, rather than requested, that Facebook and Apple censor Plaintiff’s speech.”
A Chicago woman who started “ICE Sightings – Chicagoland,” a now-taken down ICE-tracking Facebook page, is also included in the FIRE lawsuit.
“It’s a cherished American value, if I’m being frank, we all should be able to speak out, especially about the government,” Hodges said. “That is one of the core reasons that we have the First Amendment.”
Both parties in the lawsuit are supposed to file a joint status report by Wednesday, April 22 to propose next steps in the case.
13News reached out to the DOJ attorney on the case and DHS, with a DHS spokesperson sharing the following statement:
“ICE tracking apps put the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings. Our law officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,300% increase in vehicle attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats. Further, these apps are a method to interfere with law enforcement activities and harbor illegal aliens, both of which are also separately illegal.”
The DOJ attorney has not responded to 13News’ request for a statement.
