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The creator of “Coquí,” a new mobile app that alerts migrants in the United States about immigration raids through community-sourced reports, told EFE in an interview that the idea came from the fear he now sees among his fellow immigrants.
The app works on a crowdsourcing model, according to its inventor, allowing users to upload images and mark locations on a map when they believe ICE is present. For security reasons, the application’s developer identifies himself only as “Peter.”
Available since early July 2025, after a February trial period, the platform alerts users to raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the presence of other agents.
People can issue these warnings, but they can also verify whether any reported sitings are real, Peter explained, to avoid false alarms from people seeking to create panic.
“Essentially, any user can place a pin on the map when they see any suspicious activity, encounter a checkpoint, or witness a raid or an arrest, and thus instantly alert anyone using the app,” he detailed, adding: “Users can also send direct alerts to their friends, family, or anyone.”
Los usuarios “también pueden mandar alertas directas a sus amigos, a su familia o cualquiera”, añade.
US citizens can also use the “Coqui” app
The idea for the application came to Peter because he runs an animal refuge in a rural community of upstate New York, where they care for horses, goats, rabbits, ducks, and other species. He depends on the help of immigrants, who have become “friends, family, colleagues.”
“When this Administration came in and began to impose detentions and deportations, we basically saw a complete change in our community. Everyone was living in fear, people were afraid to leave their homes,” he stated.
Peter had the idea for “Coqui,” named after a frog native to Puerto Rico, where he lived for a time. The Coqui frog symbolizes “unity and solidarity.” Peter sees the app as an efficient way to warn of the raids and enforcement operations.
However, even though the application primarily serves immigrants, it can also be used by those in the United States who sympathize with the immigrant population.
“This is also for those US citizens who miss the way the United States used to be, and don’t want people living in fear. So, this has been developed as a tool to keep everyone informed,” he commented.
The launch of the “Coqui” application is taking place while Todd Lyons, interim director of ICE, told CBS TV that they may reach their goal of deporting a million people a year, in fulfillment of US President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to carry out the greatest mass deportation in history.
Alerts in Florida
The app doesn’t collect users’ information in order to protect them. However, Peter decided to visit Florida on July 25, to investigate the large quantity of alerts that users have reported in the state, where the governor, Ron DeSantis, boasts of leading the implementation of Trump’s policy.
“We decided to come to Miami, because we began to see a huge amount of user activity, a ton of pins on the map here in Miami. So, I decided to come and support the users’ activity,” he stated.
The program has allied with existing rapid response citizen networks, but remains independent of any organization, because “it’s a grassroots movement.”
