DHS says ICE "is not planning operations targeting polling locations"
Department statement given to Politico
“ICE is not planning operations targeting polling 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.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Politico's same-day report on Mullin's New York remarks. It quotes a DHS statement given when Politico asked for more clarity, and says DHS also pointed to Mullin's comments at his March confirmation hearing.
Reporting
About this source
USA Today's report on the LULAC filing. It lists the defendants as DHS, ICE, Secretary Mullin and acting ICE director David Venturella, quotes LULAC's chief executive and Denver's mayor, and quotes a DHS spokesperson.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
NPR's report on the LULAC and NAACP suits. It quotes a DHS statement to NPR, reports that the White House said in response to the lawsuit that it has repeatedly addressed the issue and that the president has not discussed plans for ICE to be at polling places, and includes remarks from Denver's clerk and recorder and from counsel for the plaintiffs.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Politico asked DHS for more clarity on Mullin's remarks about ICE at polling places.
After the quotation
DHS gave a similar statement to USA Today on September 10 and to NPR on September 18.
How this statement is classified
Responding to: ICE officers would be at polling places only if there is a threat to the polling place or they are serving a warrant on someone ICE has been actively tracking down.
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The fixed reference point is the administration's stated or threatened use of ICE at or near polling places. DHS said ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations, and also said arrests could result if an active public safety threat endangered one. That pairs a denial of a planned presence with an express condition under which enforcement could occur, the same position as Mullin's. The closest alternative, denies, loses because the second sentence reserves enforcement at a polling location.
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Should ICE and other armed federal agents be allowed at or near polling places in the 2026 election?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“We are taking strong, joint legal action to block Donald Trump’s threats to deploy federal agents, including ICE and FBI agents, to polling places this November. … Federal law explicitly forbids voter intimidation and stationing armed federal agents at polling places.”Read statement
NAACP
“We reject this administration’s attempt to desecrate our polling sites by converting them into militarized zones through the unlawful deployment of ICE or any other federal agent … The Voting Rights Act prohibits intimidation tactics that stand to deny and deter voters from exercising their voice and their rights.”Read statement
“I have not seen any operational plans or any discussions on any immigration enforcement operation at polling places. This is another fear tactic. This is another attack on ICE and this administration. … I want to put that to bed. There is no plan to sweep polling places looking for illegal aliens.”Read statement