Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is coming after the people who dare lend a helping hand to immigrants.
Noem shared a CNN segment to X on Tuesday that showed an up-and-coming app designed to warn immigrants, undocumented or not, about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in their area.
“This sure looks like obstruction of justice,” Noem wrote on the post.
“Our brave ICE law enforcement face a 500% increase in assaults against them,” she added. “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,” she added.
Over the past weeks and months, many have taken to the streets to protest against ICE’s cruelty and presence in their cities. Some have used social media to warn people about the presence of ICE agents in their area.
And now a new app called ICEBlock allows people to anonymously submit ICE sightings, which will then alert people within a 5-mile radius of the listed location.
“When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” Joshua Aaron, the app’s developer, told CNN on Monday.
The Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown has led to heart-rending scenes across the nation. For example, in late June, a mother of two appeared to be manhandled by ICE agents who were trying to force her into a vehicle as her children attempted to keep her from being taken away.
“Where’s your warrant?” one of the children demanded in a viral video of the encounter, as the daughter pleaded to the filming stranger to call the police.
It’s scenes like this, as well as raids at immigrants’ homes or workplaces, that have struck fear in families’ hearts across the country. For many, leaving their homes to do simple daily tasks like going to the doctor has become an impossible feat.
And while Noem’s social media post implies that people will use the app to attack ICE officers, Aaron encouraged users to act with kindness.
“Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only. It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement,” the app notifies users when they post a sighting.
It’s unclear if the Trump administration intends to intervene with the app.
Nevertheless, as it further ramps up its deportation efforts and ushers in terrifying immigration prisons in the Florida Everglades, one thing is clear: The Trump administration doesn’t plan to stop terrorizing immigrants anytime soon.
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