Jorge L. Alonso, a federal district court judge for the Northern District of Illinois, has ruled that the Trump Administration violated the First Amendment when it pressured Facebook and Apple to remove ICE-tracking groups and apps. Judge Alonso granted an injunction in favor of Kassandra Rosado, who runs the ICE Sightings – Chicagoland Facebook group, and Kreisau Group, developers of Eyes Up.

In a case that cites a 2024 Supreme Court decision involving the NRA, Judge Alonso stated: ‘Here, [Pam] Bondi and [Kristi] Noem did exactly that. They reached out to Facebook and Apple and demanded, rather than requested, that they censor Plaintiff’s speech.’

The government removed ICE Sightings – Chicago Land from Facebook and similar tracking apps such as Eyes Up, ICEBlock and Red Dot following pressure from the DOJ and public threats of prosecution. CNN was also targeted for simply reporting on these apps.

While the Trump administration is likely to appeal this decision, it’s a significant victory for free speech advocates who fear that government overreach could silence dissenting voices online.