ICEBlock reached No. 3 overall among free apps on the App Store and No. 1 in the social networking category as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1. The rise came one day after CNN reported on the app that tracks reports of when ICE agents are in an area.
Sightings are visible to others within a five-mile radius and disappear automatically after four hours. The app doesn't collect any personal data and users aren't required to create accounts.
Joshua Aaron is a veteran tech developer who launched ICEBlock in April. He said he built the app as a way for communities to stay informed without putting themselves at risk.
Aaron compared to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and ICE's tactics used in detaining people to Nazi Germany.
"We're literally watching history repeat itself," Aaron told CNN. "I thought, 'What if there was an early-warning system?' That's what became ICEBlock."
While ICE declined to comment to CNN, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized the app when she was asked about the report on Monday, June 30.
"I'll have to go back and watch the clip myself, but surely it sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers," Leavitt said. "There's been a 500% increase in violence against ICE agents, law enforcement officers across the country who are just simply trying to do their jobs and remove public safety threats from our communities."
Leavitt also voiced her disapproval of CNN, a longtime target for the Trump administration.
"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," she said.
ICEBlock, however, specifically notes that the app isn't used to attack ICE agents.
"Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only," ICEBlock's help page says. "It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement."
The app had more than 20,000 users at the time of CNN's report. Many of them were in Los Angeles, where large-scale deportation efforts have drawn national outrage.
Aaron denied that the app promotes violence. He said ICEBlock has built-in protections to limit false reports, including a requirement that users must be within five miles of the sighting and can only post once every five minutes.
ICEBlock is only available on iOS because its developers say building a similar Android version would require data collection that could endanger users.
"We don't want anybody's device ID, IP address, location," Aaron said. "We don't want anything being discoverable. This is 100% anonymous and free for anybody who wants to use it."
Aaron also blasted tech leaders who have taken steps to appease Trump during his return to office.
"I think I would say grow a backbone," said Aaron. "You can’t just be about the money. I understand that you have shareholders to report to. I understand that you have employees that need their paychecks, but at what point do you say, 'Enough is enough'?"
ICEBlock's surge to the top of the App Store comes as Trump's immigration policy remains one of the most divisive issues in the country. A CNN poll in April found that 52% of Americans believed Trump's deportation efforts had gone too far.
The app also topped the chart on the same day Trump visited the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz," a new immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades. Critics have said the makeshift facility built to detain thousands of migrants resembles a concentration camp, with some even calling it "Alligator Auschwitz."
The controversial detention center is located at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, about 90 minutes west of Miami and around two hours southeast of Fort Myers.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
