Meta removes ICE-tracking Facebook page in Chicago at the request of the Justice Department

Key Points

• Meta has removed a Facebook group that tracked immigration agents, responding to a request from the Department of Justice.
• The group was taken down for violating policies against coordinated harm according to Meta's statement.
• This action follows similar restrictions by Apple and Google, which recently blocked apps that tracked U.S. immigration agents.
• Despite the removal of one group, many other ICE tracking groups are still active on Facebook, indicating ongoing tension around the issue.

Meta has removed a Facebook page used to track the presence of immigration agents at the request of the Department of Justice, the company confirmed on Tuesday.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that “following outreach” from the DOJ, Facebook removed a “large group page” that was being used to target ICE officials.

Meta said in a statement that the group "was removed for violating our policies against coordinated harm.”

Meta is the latest tech company to restrict tools used to track ICE agents on its platform. Earlier this month, Apple and Google blocked downloads of phone apps that flag sightings of U.S. immigration agents, just hours after the Trump administration demanded that one particularly popular iPhone app be taken down.

Bondi has said that such tracking puts Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at risk. But users and developers of the apps say it’s their First Amendment right to capture what ICE is doing in their neighborhoods — and maintain that most users turn to these platforms in an effort to protect their own safety as President Donald Trump steps up aggressive immigration enforcement across the country.

While a Facebook group for ICE sightings in Chicago does appear to have been taken down, as of Tuesday evening, dozens of other groups, some with thousands of members, remained visible on Facebook.