Joshua Aaron, developer of ICEBlock, an iPhone app that flagged sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, accused the Trump Administration of pressuring Apple to remove it from its store.

The app creator's lawsuit alleges violations of freedom of expression, alleging that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi used her “state power” to force Apple to remove his app, which, he said, also restricts his freedom to create and distribute ICEBlock, protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “Basically, we’re asking the court to set a precedent and confirm that ICEBlock is, in fact, a First Amendment-protected form of free speech and that I did nothing wrong by creating it,” Aaron said in an interview. “And to make sure they can’t do the same thing again in the future.”

Aaron said the other part of the lawsuit “is basically for them to stop threatening me and my family.”

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to protect the Texas-based software developer from prosecution, alleging “unlawful threats made by Attorney General Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons, and White House Border Czar Tom Homan to criminally investigate and prosecute Aaron for his role in developing ICEBlock.”

The app, which was free for iPhones, was removed from the Apple Store, Apple’s official app store, last October after pressure from the Administration.

With more than a million users, ICEBlock was the most-used ICE tracking app on the Apple App Store until Bondi said in October that her office contacted Apple “demanding that "Eliminate ICEBlock" and claiming that "it is designed to put ICE agents at risk simply for doing their jobs, and violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed."The Justice Department said it had no comment on the lawsuit beyond Bondi's previous statements about the app. For the creator, Apple's decision to remove ICEBlock demonstrates that the company was "threatened" by the government, so he hopes for a positive court ruling that prevents the Administration from coercing private companies and that Apple will reinstate the app to its store. Although ICEBlock was removed from the digital store, those who already had it downloaded can still use it. Launched in April, the app is a map that allows users to receive alerts from others when they see ICE agents within a five-mile radius. Aaron explained in the lawsuit that the app was designed to "facilitate community sharing of publicly available information" and in response to Trump's "unprecedented" campaign to arrest, detain, and deport immigrants. The use of this type of technology has increased as the Trump Administration has intensified raids as part of its plan for mass deportations of migrants.