A New App Is Helping Immigrants in South Florida Track ICE Activity in Real Time

A new mobile app called Coqui is allowing immigrants in South Florida track nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, raising safety concerns from federal officials but receiving support from immigrant communities.

Coqui, available on iOS and Android, functions as a crowdsourced map where users can anonymously report and verify sightings of ICE operations, police presence, or other events that could be considered relevant to undocumented individuals, asylum seekers, or those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

When a report is submitted, people within a five-kilometer radius receive an instant notification, the app´s official website explains. Reports remain active for 48 hours and are updated based on community validation to minimize false alerts. The app limits users to five reports per day and restricts confirmation activity to curb misuse.

Coqui's creator, who identified himself only as Peter due to fear of retaliation, told CBS News that he developed the app after observing how fear affected immigrants working at the animal rescue farm he operates in New York. "I saw a community living in absolute fear and it was heartbreaking," adding that he wished to create "a digital tool to give people a chance to live their lives and not feel hunted."

"The app does not promote violence; it promotes protection," he added.

One user, a Venezuelan man with TPS living in South Florida, said he uses the app daily. "That's how I feel safe going to work," he told the outlet.

Federal officials, however have expressed concern. ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said that such tools may "compromise the safety" of immigration officers and potentially incite violence. "Our issue becomes then they (people detained) become violent and they're asking people to go cause violence," Sheahan said.

Sheahan's position echoes that of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who in July condemned a similar app called ICEBlock, labeling it as "an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe."

ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons also slammed ICEBlock at the time claiming it "basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers' backs" and noting that "officers and agents are already facing a 500% increase in assaults." Lyons also called the app "sickening."