The judge ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment in the fight against ICE tracking

Jorge L. Alonso, a federal district court judge for the Northern District of Illinois, said the Trump administration It violated the First Amendment When I pressured Facebook and Apple to remove it Ice tracking groups and apps. Judge Alonso granted the plaintiffs, Cassandra Rosado, who runs Ice Scenes – Chicagoland Facebook group, Kreisau Group, developers of Eyes Up, preliminary injunction.

Judge Alonso A. cited The Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous From the 2024 case that pitted the NRA against former New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo. In that case, the court ruled that “government officials may not attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress opinions not favored by the government,” when Folow pressured companies to end their business relationships with the NRA. “Here, (Pam) Bondi and (Kristi) Noem did just that. They reached out to Facebook and Apple and requested, rather than required, that Facebook and Apple monitor plaintiff’s speech,” Alonso’s decision continues.

In the case of the ICE Sightings Facebook group, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Splurge on X An unnamed group “used to conduct attacks and target” ICE agents was eliminated after the Department of Justice contacted Meta. Eyes Up, ICEBlock, Red Dot and other similar apps have been removed from app stores as well, after pressure from the Department of Justice and public threats of prosecution, including CNN Just to report the existence of the application.

The government is likely to appeal this decision, and fighting will continue. But the unanimous nature of the precedent set by the Supreme Court in 2024 suggests the Trump administration faces an uphill battle.