Rep. Thompson and House Homeland Security Democrats write Secretary Mullin on DHS law enforcement at polling places
Bennie ThompsonU.S. representative from Mississippi and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, writing with 14 other committee Democrats
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) led House Homeland Security Committee Democrats in a September 4 letter to Secretary Markwayne Mullin that expresses the members' strongest opposition to any plan to deploy DHS law enforcement officers to polling places in the 2026 midterm elections. The letter demands that Mullin make clear to the public that neither ICE nor any other DHS law enforcement personnel will be deployed to polling locations.
“we write today to express our strongest opposition to any plans the Department may have to deploy its law enforcement officers to polling places during the 2026 midterm elections we demand that you clarify your ambiguous comments regarding the circumstances under which the Department might deploy law enforcement personnel to polling places and make clear to the public that neither ICE nor any other DHS law enforcement personnel will be deployed to polling locations.”
Official statement
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Should ICE and other armed federal agents be allowed at or near polling places in the 2026 election?
Since February 2026, federal officials have given differing answers about whether ICE and other armed federal agents could be at or near polling places during the November 3 election. On September 1, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE would be at a polling place only if there is a threat to it or agents are serving a warrant, and DHS told Politico that ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations but that arrests could result if an active public safety threat endangered one. On September 10, 18 and 23, 2026, LULAC and other groups, a coalition including the NAACP, and Democratic leaders and party committees sued separately in federal court in Washington. They allege that the administration's statements and actions violate 18 U.S.C. 592, Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act, or both. As of September 25, the court dockets show no motion for a preliminary injunction and no answer or motion to dismiss from the federal defendants, and no court has ruled.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Letter from Rep. Bennie Thompson and 14 other Democratic members of the House Committee on Homeland Security to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about deploying DHS law enforcement to polling places, DHS voter-fraud investigations and a planned voter database.
Official statement
About this source
House Homeland Security Committee Democrats' release announcing the September 4 letter to Secretary Mullin, with excerpts from the letter and a link to it.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The letter says committee Democrats wrote to Mullin on June 1 and July 16, 2026 seeking information on deploying DHS law enforcement to polling locations and assurances that ICE agents would not be sent, and that those letters were ignored. It quotes Mullin as saying on September 1 that ICE would be at polling places if there is a threat to a polling place or if agents are serving a warrant on someone they have been actively tracking down.
After the quotation
The letter also objects to what it calls the misuse of DHS resources on elections, including personnel reassigned to investigate noncitizen voting and an ICE acquisition forecast for a nationwide voter database. It is signed by Thompson and 14 other Democratic members of the committee.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the administration's stated or threatened use of ICE and other armed federal agents at or near polling places in the 2026 election. The letter expresses the committee Democrats' strongest opposition to any plan to deploy DHS law enforcement officers to polling places and demands a public commitment that ICE and other DHS law enforcement will not be deployed there. That expressly rejects the stated or threatened use, so we labeled it Condemned.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
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Cite this record
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- The Dispute Index
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- Rep. Thompson and House Homeland Security Democrats write Secretary Mullin on DHS law enforcement at polling places
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/3337-rep-bennie-thompson-d-miss-led-house-homeland
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The Dispute Index. "Rep. Thompson and House Homeland Security Democrats write Secretary Mullin on DHS law enforcement at polling places". First published: 2026-09-29. Last updated: 2026-09-29. https://disputeindex.com/events/3337-rep-bennie-thompson-d-miss-led-house-homeland