Immigration Agents Will Not Be Stationed at Polls, DHS Official Says
Immigration agents will not be stationed at polling places during the U.S. midterm elections, a Department of Homeland Security official told state election administrators, according to the Associated Press. The elections are scheduled for November 3, and the role of federal immigration enforcement around voting has become a subject of debate.
The agency at the center of the debate is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. It is a federal agency housed in the Department of Homeland Security, and it was founded in 2003. As of January, ICE had 22,000 officers and agents, a staffing increase of 120 percent. The agency is considered the best-funded federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. following recent spending packages, according to Al Jazeera.
Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union have voiced concern that the Trump administration could use ICE to intimidate voters. Human Rights Watch has called for the establishment of "No ICE" zones around polling places and early voting locations. In September, a civil rights coalition filed a federal lawsuit challenging the threatened use of ICE and other federal law enforcement at polling locations.
Federal law sets clear limits. A law dating to 1865 prohibits anyone in U.S. civil, military or naval service from ordering or bringing troops or armed men to election sites. Armed force may be used at those sites only if it is needed to keep the peace at the polls or to repel armed enemies of the United States. Only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections.
Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, is an office under ICE control. Beginning in August, the Department of Homeland Security deployed HSI agents for field investigations in at least nine states to probe voter eligibility and non-citizen voting. Some agents reportedly went door to door asking residents whether they are citizens and whether they plan to vote. According to The New Yorker, between 10% and 15% of HSI agents are investigating voter fraud.
Federal prosecutors have charged 156 people with voting-fraud-related offenses since the start of the Trump administration, according to CBS News. ICE agents also investigated suspected voter fraud across Missouri ahead of the midterms, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
The Department of Homeland Security has given different descriptions of its plans over the year. In February, the White House said President Donald Trump had no formal plans to deploy ICE agents to polling sites. The same month, the department said ICE agents may appear at polling locations only for public safety threats.
Concern has also come from the public. A September national poll by the University of California, San Diego found that 40 percent of respondents expected ICE agents to be present near polling stations on election day. During the 2026 primaries, ICE agents conducted routine operations near polling stations in San Antonio, Texas, and Ventura County, California. They left after local police asked them to do so.
Polls have found that Trump's hardline immigration enforcement effort has divided voters ahead of the midterms. Meanwhile, thousands of volunteers are training to serve as election observers, watching for interference or the presence of ICE, according to The Guardian.
