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DHS Secretary Mullin articulated policy allowing armed ICE deployment to polling places during midterm elections

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters on September 1, 2026 that armed ICE officers could be deployed to polling places during the November midterm elections in response to "a threat to that polling place" or to serve a warrant, articulating for the first time a policy permitting armed federal immigration agents at polling sites. DHS separately said it is not "planning operations targeting polling locations" but that officers could respond to an "active public safety threat" there.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
New York City

Abuses documented

Actors

On September 1, 2026, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that armed ICE officers could be deployed to polling places during the November 2026 midterm elections, saying deployment could occur "if there is a threat to that polling place or we're serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down."

DHS separately said the agency is not "planning operations targeting polling locations" but that its officers may respond if an "active public safety threat" arises at a polling site. The remarks came as President Trump has pushed to restrict voting ahead of the midterms and question election security, including by emphasizing the risk of noncitizen voting, which is illegal and rare, and as the Justice Department has said it will deploy up to 1,000 election monitors to polling locations nationwide in November, after already sending monitors to primary elections.

Updates

2026-09-10 — Denver and civil rights groups sued DHS to block the policy [1, 2]

The city of Denver, joined by UnidosUS, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Common Cause, sued the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on September 10, 2026, seeking to block the policy. The complaint, assigned to Judge Loren AliKhan, argues federal law permits armed officials at polling places only to "repel armed enemies of the United States," and that the policy did not undergo "a reasoned decisionmaking process" before it was announced. The plaintiffs cited ProPublica findings that more than 170 U.S. citizens have been wrongly detained by ICE.

Why we recorded this

Polling places must be spaces voters can enter without fear of confrontation by armed federal agents, or the freedom to vote is compromised regardless of formal eligibility. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that armed ICE officers could be deployed to polling places during the November midterm elections to respond to "threats" or serve warrants, a policy Denver and national civil rights groups say violates the federal law barring armed officials at polling sites. This archive records the policy because the prospect of armed immigration agents at the polls chills participation by eligible voters who fear a confrontation, regardless of whether any specific arrest is ever made.

Sources

  1. Denver, civil rights groups sue to block ICE from being deployed to polling sites — MS NOW primary accessed September 10, 2026
  2. ICE sued by voting rights groups to block agents at the polls — The Independent investigative accessed September 10, 2026
  3. Secretary Mullin Highlights Success of Operation Rotten Apple: ICE Arrests Over 2,100 Illegal Aliens in New York — U.S. Department of Homeland Security primary accessed September 10, 2026

See also