Judge George L. of the federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois. Alonso said the Trump administration violated the First Amendment when it pressured Facebook and Apple to remove ICE-tracking groups and apps. Judge Alonso granted the preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, Cassandra Rosado, who runs the ICE Sightings – Chicagoland Facebook group, and Kreisau Group, the developers of Eyes Up.
Judge Alonso cited a unanimous Supreme Court decision in a 2024 case that pitted the NRA against Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services. In that case, the court ruled that “[g]While Vullo pressured companies to end their business relationships with the NRA, government officials cannot attempt to punish private parties or force them to suppress views that are not favorable to the government. Alonso’s decision continues, saying, “Here, [Pam] bondi and [Kristi] Noem did just that. They reached out to Facebook and Apple and demanded, rather than request, that Facebook and Apple censor the plaintiffs’ speech.
In the case of the ICE Sightings Facebook group, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi bragged to Eyes Up, ICEblock, Red Dot, and other similar apps have been removed from the App Store, following pressure from the DOJ and public threats of prosecution, including from CNN, for simply reporting on the existence of the apps.
It is likely that the government will appeal this decision and the fight will continue. But the unanimous nature of the precedent set by the Supreme Court in 2024 suggests that the Trump administration faces an uphill battle.
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