Concerns are growing that ICE agents could intimidate voters or suppress turnout during the US midterm elections, after the Trump administration declined to rule out using immigration officers in election-related operations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expanded sharply since Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term, with the agency now employing 22,000 officers and agents — a 120 per cent increase since January.
It has also become the best-funded federal law enforcement agency in the United States following recent spending packages, while facing mounting scrutiny over its tactics and accelerated recruitment.
What role could ICE agents play in the midterms?
Federal law prohibits armed federal agents from being deployed at polling stations. A law dating from 1865 makes it illegal for members of the civil, military or naval service to bring “any troops or armed men” to election sites, except in circumstances involving the preservation of order or armed enemies of the United States.
Other laws prohibit military interference in elections and efforts to intimidate voters. Yet advocacy groups say the administration’s actions and statements have raised the prospect of ICE being involved in election-related activity, including on polling day.
During primary elections for the midterms, ICE agents reportedly carried out routine operations near polling stations in San Antonio, Texas, and Ventura County, California. In both cases, local police asked the agents to leave.
In May, Trump was asked whether he would send the National Guard or ICE to voting locations in November. He did not answer directly, saying: “I’d do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections. We have to have honest elections.”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin later said ICE would not “patrol” polling stations, but left open the possibility of agents attending for other purposes.
“The only reason why we would be at polling places is if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down,” he said.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has also questioned opposition to the idea. Speaking at a conservative conference in March, he asked: “Why is there an objection to sending ICE to polling stations? Illegals can’t vote. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Voter investigations halted by judge
One branch of ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, was reportedly instructed to prioritise investigations into non-citizens voting ahead of the midterms. Only US citizens can vote in federal elections.
From August, HSI agents were sent to at least nine states for “field investigations” into voter eligibility. Some reportedly went door to door asking residents whether they were citizens and whether they intended to vote.
A federal judge this week ordered the Department of Homeland Security to suspend the investigations, warning that US citizens could be “wrongly swept up” and “subjected to intimidation”. The judge also cited a “high likelihood of error” in the way alleged non-citizens were being identified.
Trump has used claims about non-citizen voting to support his allegations of widespread electoral fraud. Experts cited in the account said such fears were unfounded, pointing to the tiny number of non-citizens who actually take part in elections.
Rights groups warn of voter intimidation
Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union have warned that the prospect of encountering ICE could deter people from voting. A University of California, San Diego poll conducted in September found that 40 per cent of respondents expected ICE agents to be present near polling stations on election day.
Human Rights Watch called on the administration on Tuesday to direct ICE not to operate near polling stations or other midterm election sites.
“ICE officers’ abuses have already seriously affected US citizens who have been stopped, beaten, detained, deported and even killed,” said Philippe Bolopion, the organisation’s executive director. “Voters should not have to fear being caught in an ICE dragnet when they head to the polls.”
Amnesty International issued a similar appeal on October 16, saying eligible voters must be able to participate without “discriminatory and arbitrary barriers, intimidation by armed forces, or fear of harm”.
The groups’ concerns come amid reports that immigration agents operating under ICE and other agencies have been responsible for at least 25 shootings since the beginning of Trump’s second term, six of them fatal. At least 60 people have also died in ICE custody since January 2025.
