Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-02 · by Rebecca Santana And Ali Swenson The Associated Press
With early voting already underway, a question worrying some voters is what role — if any — immigration enforcement officers might have at polling places through Election Day.
uncertain
officers → worry → Day
Department of Homeland Security officials say they don’t plan to send immigration enforcement officers en masse to patrol the polls and dismissed concerns that they plan to do so as “fearmongering.”
asserted
they → say → concerns
Election legal experts say federal law clearly prevents the government from deploying any armed troops, agents or officers to election sites except to “repel armed enemies of the United States,” a high bar to clear.
asserted
law → say → bar
But organizations who represent Latino, Black and Asian American voters say the rhetoric and ICE’s own activity make them worried at a time the number of immigration arrests is soaring as President Donald Trump carries out his mass deportation agenda.
asserted
Trump → represent → agenda
Feds say ICE won’t ‘patrol’ the polls, but don’t rule out going entirely
During congressional testimony earlier this year, the then-acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, and the head of Customs and Border Protection, Rodney Scott, said they had no plans to send officers to the polls.
asserted
they → say → polls
Lyons has since left the position.
asserted
Lyons → leave → position
A Department of Homeland Security official also told state election administrators that immigration agents will not be stationed at the polls for the midterms.
asserted
agents → tell → midterms
In September, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused Democrats of “fearmongering” in raising concerns over ICE officers going to polling places.
asserted
officers → accuse → places
He said officers won’t go to patrol or monitor polling places broadly, but could go for specific reasons such as arresting someone if they have a warrant or are responding to a threat.
uncertain
they → say → threat
Earlier this year, Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was then the deputy attorney general, also weighed in on the issue, saying: “Why are there objections to sending ICE officers to polling places?
asserted
who → weigh → places
Illegals can’t vote.”
asserted
Illegals → vote → ?
Trump, who has repeatedly raised the specter of widespread illegal noncitizen voting even as research and investigations show it is incredibly rare, hasn’t said he would direct ICE officers to be at polling places but also hasn’t ruled it out.
asserted
he → raise → it
When asked in May if he would send the National Guard or ICE to voting locations in November, he said: “I’d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections.
uncertain
we → ask → elections
We have to have honest elections.”
asserted
We → have → elections
In a Time magazine interview published Thursday, Trump responded, “Haven’t thought of it,” when asked if he planned to dispatch ICE agents to polling places.
asserted
he → publish → places
The Department of Homeland Security, in a statement to The Associated Press, said people in the country legally have “nothing to fear” and that: “ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations.
asserted
ICE → say → locations
ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.”
uncertain
they → conduct → action
The Department also said they are “laser focused on prosecuting and removing aliens who vote and preventing the dilution of the votes of U.S. citizens.”
asserted
who → say → citizens
Deploying armed officials at polling places
is against the law
Federal law dating to the Civil War prohibits “troops or armed men” from being deployed to places where elections are being held “unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.”
asserted
force → deploy → States
“It is completely and obviously illegal,” said David Becker, a former U.S. Justice Department attorney who leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.
asserted
who → say → Innovation
“As soon as there is an armed individual at a polling place, there will be a court action; jurisdictions are preparing for it.”
asserted
jurisdictions → be → it
Jonathan Diaz, director of voting advocacy and partnerships at the Washington-based nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, said his group interprets the law to include anywhere voting occurs, including polling places, early voting centers, drop boxes and election offices where ballots are delivered.
asserted
ballots → base → places
He thinks even the narrow scenarios Mullin laid out, such as ICE officers pursuing an individual warrant at the polls, are legally dubious.
asserted
Mullin → think → polls
“The statute does not carve out exceptions for routine law enforcement,” he said.
asserted
he → carve → enforcement
If ICE officers are near, but not at, the polls, it would raise legal questions that have not yet been considered, Diaz said.
asserted
Diaz → raise → questions
But there are several other federal and state statutes barring voter intimidation that could apply.
uncertain
that → be → intimidation
Local election officials addressed the possibility of federal agents showing up at the polls during a gathering this week in the nation’s capital and said they had been preparing for it.
Dean Logan, who oversees Los Angeles County’s elections, said while he welcomes people monitoring the election process, he does not want distractions for voters trying to cast their ballots.
asserted
he → address → ballots
“We’re going to make sure that we have boots on the ground to make sure the voter is not disrupted in that process,” he said during the meeting of the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions.
asserted
he → go → Jurisdictions
Democrats, Latino activists are concerned
Trump administration critics point to the president’s comments saying he thinks Republicans should “take over the voting in at least 15 places.”
asserted
Republicans → point → places
They also note some longtime Trump allies, including right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon, welcoming an ICE presence at the polls.
asserted
allies → note → polls
Dan Freeman, litigation director for the Democratic National Committee, agrees there is a low likelihood of immigration agents at voting locations, but his team is prepared to go to court should the administration try.
asserted
administration → agree → court
“President Trump is not willing to rule it out.
asserted
Trump → rule → it
Secretary Mullin is not willing to rule it out.
asserted
Mullin → rule → it
And so we have to be ready,” Freeman said.
asserted
Freeman → have → ?
Activists who have filed lawsuits to prevent any ICE presence at polling locations say the rhetoric from the administration and its allies coupled with months of immigration enforcement activities have left Latino, Asian American, Black and other voters concerned.
asserted
rhetoric → file → voters
Activists say many Latinos, even U.S. citizens, already limit everyday activities because they are worried about ICE.
asserted
they → say → ICE
They say it doesn’t take a lot to spread fear on Election Day.
asserted
it → say → Day
Juan Proaño who heads the League of United Latin American Citizens, said ICE doesn’t have to show up in force at numerous sites.
asserted
ICE → head → sites
Information spreading quickly on social media about one polling place could easily cause voters in other areas to stay away, he said.
uncertain
he → spread → areas
“Just the mere presence of them in and around polling locations is enough of a deterrent for our community,” he said.
asserted
he → say → community
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
