Will ICE agents be deployed at US polling stations for the midterms?

Rights groups are urging the Trump administration to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents away from polling stations ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3, warning their presence could intimidate voters and keep people from casting ballots.

ICE, a federal agency inside the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has expanded sharply under President Donald Trump's second term. It has 22,000 officers and agents as of January, a staffing increase of 120 percent, and recent spending packages have made it the best-funded federal law enforcement agency in the country.

The agency, founded in 2003, faces growing scrutiny over its tactics. Immigration agents working under ICE and other agencies have been responsible for at least 25 shootings since the start of Trump's second term, six of them fatal, and at least 60 people have died in ICE custody since January 2025.

What the law says

Federal law bars armed federal agents from polling stations, and some states have similar rules. The federal prohibition dates to 1865 and makes it illegal for anyone in the civil, military or naval service of the United States to bring "any troops or armed men" to an election site. A loophole allows such force if it is needed to keep peace at the polls or repel armed enemies. Other laws bar military interference in elections and voter intimidation.

Investigations paused

The rules were tested during this year's primaries. ICE agents reportedly carried out routine operations near polling stations in San Antonio, Texas, and Ventura County, California. In both cases they left after local police asked them to.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm has been told to prioritise investigations into non-citizen voting, which is illegal because only US citizens may vote in federal elections. From August, DHS deployed HSI agents for "field investigations" into voter eligibility in at least nine states, with some reportedly going door to door to ask residents about their citizenship and voting plans. This week a federal judge ordered DHS to pause those investigations, citing the risk that a US citizen could be "wrongly swept up" and "subjected to intimidation", and noting a "high likelihood of error" in how agents identified alleged non-citizens.

Political pressure

Trump has cited non-citizen voting to support his false claims of pervasive voter fraud, though experts say such fears are unfounded and that only tiny numbers of non-citizens take part in elections. Asked in May whether he would send the National Guard or ICE to voting locations, Trump declined to answer directly, saying: "I'd do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections."

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in September that ICE would not "patrol" polling stations, but suggested agents could be there for other reasons, such as a threat to a site or serving a warrant. Attorney General Todd Blanche has questioned the objection, asking at a conservative conference in March: "Why is there an objection to sending ICE to polling stations? Illegals can't vote. It doesn't make any sense."

A September poll by the University of California, San Diego found that 40 percent of respondents expected ICE agents to be near polling stations on election day. On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch called on the administration to order ICE not to deploy near polling stations or other midterm sites. "Voters should not have to fear being caught in an ICE dragnet when they head to the polls," said executive director Philippe Bolopion. Amnesty International made a similar appeal on October 16.

Source: Al Jazeera.