Power Grab/Decide who gets to vote and who counts it
DHS Secretary Mullin says ICE officers will go to polling places to answer “threats” or serve warrants
— DHS chief Mullin says ICE officers will go to polling places for 'threats' or warrants.
Civil-rights groups and the City and County of Denver sued nine days later. DHS says ICE “is not planning operations targeting polling locations.”
What happened
On September 1, 2026, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE officers would appear at polling places “if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down.” He spoke to reporters in New York. He added that a report of a specific undocumented immigrant at a site could trigger a response.
Federal law, 18 U.S.C. 592, bars armed federal officers at polls except to repel armed enemies of the United States. The statute dates from 1865. On September 10, LULAC, UnidosUS, Common Cause and the City and County of Denver sued DHS, ICE and Mullin in federal court in Washington to block the policy.
DHS responded that ICE “is not planning operations targeting polling locations.” The suit asks a court to say, before the November 3 election, that the policy is barred. Mullin’s statement came nine weeks before the midterms.
Who benefited
The administration gained a stated basis for sending immigration agents to voting sites without declaring that it intends to. The threat does its work whether or not agents appear, since a voter who fears a raid at the polls may not go.
Who wanted something
Trump told TIME a month later that he would not rule out ICE at polling stations. DHS leadership has made the voter rolls an immigration-enforcement project. Mullin’s statement put the option on the record in a cabinet secretary’s words.
Who lost out
Naturalized citizens and voters in immigrant neighborhoods have a reason to stay home when ICE may be near a polling place. The local election officials who run those sites have no authority over federal agents.
Why it matters
No armed federal agent has yet been documented at a 2026 polling place. What exists is a cabinet secretary’s statement of the conditions under which they would be sent, a law that forbids it, and a lawsuit asking a court to say so before November 3.
Sources Politico (via Election Law Blog)Stateline / States NewsroomU.S. District Court, D.D.C. (CourtListener) (primary)
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