The Trump administration has no plans to send U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to polling sites in the United States to arrest illegal immigrants during the 2026 midterm elections, according to a top administration official.
White House border czar Tom Homan clarified on Sunday that ICE will not be present at voting sites for the purpose of finding and detaining people who are in the country illegally. His statement follows months of counterclaims from Democratic politicians and wishy-washy messaging from Republicans on the topic.
“I want to put that to bed. There is no plan to sweep polling places looking for illegal aliens,” Homan told Fox News’s The Sunday Briefing co-host Jacqui Heinrich. “I have not seen any operational plans or any discussions on any immigration enforcement operation at polling places. This is another fear tactic, another attack on ICE and this administration.”
Homan’s comment comes on the heels of escalating pressure from Democrat-led cities and progressive organizations to prevent ICE personnel from being present at polling locations this fall. Late last week, Democracy Forward sued the Department of Homeland Security and ICE in federal district court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause, UnidosUS, and the city of Denver.
“The specter of armed officers at polling places threatens the freedom of this upcoming election,” their lawsuit stated. “It places voters in fear that they will be confronted by armed federal law enforcement if they choose to cast a ballot.”
Democratic state parties announced Monday that they will launch an effort to recruit and deploy 10,000 volunteers to stand around at polling places in case ICE shows up.
The groups have pointed to statements from other Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, that ICE would not be at polling sites “to patrol,” leaving room to interpret that ICE could be present, just not for immigration-related reasons.
“The only reason why we would be at polling places is if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down,” Mullin said during a press conference in New York City on Sept. 1. “ICE’s job is immigration, customs enforcement. … If we’re serving a warrant, we will be where we need to be.”
Some conservatives, including President Donald Trump’s former top 2016 campaign aide Steve Bannon, have called for ICE to “surround the polls.”
By federal law, noncitizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections, including House and Senate races.
Elected officials are also forbidden from overseeing or ordering the deployment of “any troops or armed men [to] any place where a general or special election is held,” except for when it is needed to protect from “armed enemies of the United States.”
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Homan described Democrats’ concerns about election security as misguided.
“I mean, they don’t want ICE near the polling places. They don’t want to vote for voter ID. They don’t want observers. What have they got to hide to begin with, right?” Homan said. “There is no plan for enforcement action at polling places. It’s just another attempt to smear ICE, to smear the president.”