WASHINGTON – Federal immigration officials will not be positioned at voting sites during this year’s elections, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Wednesday during a briefing with state election administrators.
The clarification came after state officials across the country sought assurance about potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities near polling places. Heather Honey, who serves as deputy assistant secretary for election integrity at DHS, addressed these concerns directly.
“Any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true,” Honey stated during the virtual conference call, according to Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes who participated in the discussion.
The topic arose when California Secretary of State Shirley Weber inquired whether states would receive advance notice of any immigration enforcement activities planned near voting locations, her office confirmed.
Maine’s top election official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, emphasized during the briefing that deploying ICE agents to polling sites would violate constitutional protections.
However, a DHS spokesperson acknowledged to reporters that immigration agents might need to respond to a polling location “if an active public safety threat endangered” the site, but only for targeted enforcement actions addressing immediate safety concerns.
The November midterm elections will determine control of Congress and numerous state offices, with primary contests beginning next month to select party nominees.
These assurances come as the current administration pursues heightened immigration enforcement policies that have drawn criticism from advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers, including operations conducted by federal agents in protective gear.
