Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials announced that there are no plans to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents en masse to polling places during the midterm elections scheduled for November 3.
According to a report by the AP, the agency dismissed rumors that they plan to do so, calling them "alarmist," while legal experts on election matters have pointed out that federal law clearly prohibits the government from deploying troops, agents, or armed officers at polling places, except to "repel armed enemies of the United States."
However, according to the agency, organizations representing Latino, Black, and Asian American voters say that ICE's rhetoric and actions are troubling, given the current surge in migrant arrests as President Donald Trump pursues his mass deportation program.
The AP recalled that earlier this year, the then acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons (who is no longer in office), and the director of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Rodney Scott, assured in an appearance before Congress that there were no plans in this regard.
At the beginning of the year, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who now holds the position, asked, “Why are there objections to sending ICE agents to polling places? Illegals can’t vote.” Trump has not said whether he will order ICE to be deployed. On Thursday, in an interview with Time magazine, when asked about a possible deployment of agents, he replied, “I haven’t thought about it.”
