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Apple has removed applications that allowed users to report sightings of officers from ICE.

The technology giant announced it had eliminated the tracking application from its application marketplace after police alerted them about potential "security concerns" associated with this software and "comparable applications".

Based on a statement shared with media organizations, the Attorney General the Attorney General had "insisted on" the app's removal saying it was "developed to place enforcement personnel at danger".

Its developer countered that such claims were "demonstrably incorrect" and accused the tech firm of "capitulating to an oppressive government".

Background of the Controversial Application

ICEBlock is one of multiple programs introduced recently in response to increased immigration enforcement operations across the US.

Critics - like the creator of ICEBlock - charge the government of abusing its authority and "bringing terror" to local neighborhoods.

The free app operates by displaying the locations of enforcement agents. It has been installed more than a one million occasions in the America.

Safety Concerns

Nonetheless, authorities maintained it was being utilized to focus on immigration agents, with the federal investigators saying that the suspect who targeted an enforcement office in the city in September - killing two detainees - had utilized comparable applications to track the activities of personnel and their cars.

According to their announcement, Apple stated: "We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to find applications.

"Based on intelligence we've obtained from police about the potential dangers connected to the software, we have withdrawn it and related programs from the application marketplace."

Developer's Response

But its developer, Joshua Aaron, refuted it created a threat.

"This application is no different from public reporting traffic enforcement, which every notable location software, even the company's proprietary Maps app," he stated.

"This constitutes protected speech under the constitutional protection of the American Constitution."

Mr Aaron - who has had experience in the software field for a long time - previously stated he developed the software out of concern over a spike in ICE activities.

"I closely watched pretty closely during the prior leadership and then I listened to the discourse during the political contest for the present," he said.

"I started firing on what was going to happen and what I could do to keep people safe."

Official Response

The White House and FBI had denounced the app after it debuted in recent months and downloads rose.