Raja Krishnamoorthi on Law Enforcement

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Disputes over the policies, conduct, and oversight of law enforcement agencies.

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Statement history

3 statements on this page. Dates: July 31, 2025 to September 17, 2026

3 matching statements. Dates: July 31, 2025 to September 17, 2026

3 published statements. Dates: July 31, 2025 to September 17, 2026

Condemned

3 published statements. Dates: July 31, 2025 to September 17, 2026

3 statements on this page. Dates: July 31, 2025 to September 17, 2026

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. Representative (D-IL), writing to the Attorney General

September 17, 2026Condemned

Response to this claim

Kash Patel privately told John James that the FBI will have a presence leading up to Election Day in Michigan, in both West Michigan and Southeast Michigan.

“This ambiguity is difficult to reconcile with federal law. Since 1948, 18 U.S.C. § 592 has made it a felony for any officer "in the civil, military, or naval service of the United States" to order, bring, or keep "armed men" at any place where a general election is held, absent the need to repel armed enemies of the United States. The penalty includes up to five years' imprisonment and disqualification from federal office. The Department's own manual on the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses has long construed that provision to reach armed federal agents, not merely military personnel. Director Patel's stated uncertainty about whether the Bureau may lawfully send agents to the polls is therefore not a close legal question. It is a question the Department answered decades ago, in its own published guidance.”

Raja Krishnamoorthi

Role at the time: U.S. representative from Illinois and member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

September 4, 2026Condemned

Statement summary

In a September 4 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) wrote that voters should not have to wonder whether federal immigration agents could appear at or near their polling place, and that the presence of armed federal agents there could create confusion, fear or intimidation. He wrote that DHS cannot maintain both that ICE has "no reason" to be near a polling place and that its Special Response Teams stand ready to deploy there.

“With early voting and Election Day fast approaching, voters should not have to wonder whether federal immigration agents could appear at or near their polling place while they are casting their ballots. The presence of armed federal agents at or near a polling location—even when ostensibly responding to a separate law-enforcement matter—could create confusion, fear, or intimidation and could discourage eligible voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote. The Department cannot simultaneously maintain, on one hand, that ICE has ‘no reason’ to be near a polling place, and on the other, that its Special Response Teams stand ready to deploy there. As the Department's Secretary, you are uniquely positioned to end this ambiguity.”

Read the official statementKrishnamoorthi Sounds Alarm as Trump Administration Continues to Threaten to Deploy Armed Federal Agents to Polling PlacesPress release of September 4, 2026; passages from the letter appear after "In the letter, Krishnamoorthi writes" and "Krishnamoorthi writes"

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi's press release announcing his letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about ICE, CBP and other armed federal agents at polling places, with quoted passages from the letter.

Archived copy

Why we used 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. Krishnamoorthi wrote that the presence of armed federal agents at or near a polling location could create confusion, fear or intimidation and discourage eligible voters, that federal law restricts armed personnel at polling places, and that DHS cannot hold two contradictory positions on whether ICE could be near a polling place. That criticizes the stated or threatened use and the administration's refusal to rule it out, so we labeled it Condemned.

Read statement Full case: Should ICE and other armed federal agents be allowed at or near polling places in the 2026 election?