Homan denies ICE polling place raid plans as Denver sues
White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday denied any plans for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to raid polling locations in the November midterm elections. The denial comes as the city of Denver and immigrant and voting rights groups have sued to block ICE from polling sites.
Homan told Fox News host Jacqui Heinreich on “The Sunday Briefing” that he has not seen “any operational plans or any discussions on any immigration enforcement operation at polling places.” Heinreich asked if there was any truth to claims ICE would be “raiding” polling locations.
“This is another fear tactic. This is another attack on ICE and this administration,” Homan said. “I mean, they don’t want ICE near the polling places, they don’t want to vote for voter ID, they don’t want observers. What have they got to hide to begin with, right? But there is no plan for enforcement action at polling places. It’s just another attempt to smear ICE and smear the president.”
Homan also pushed back on reports of ICE arrests at elementary schools, hospitals and places of worship, saying there is no “sensitive location” policy.
“If you’re a criminal alien, you’re a national security threat, there’s no sanctuary,” he said. “But look at the past two years. Not one instance of ICE operating at a sensitive location, [including] polling places.”
Denver, along with Latino civil rights and voting rights groups, filed a lawsuit last week to block ICE from polling locations. The plaintiffs cited post-Civil War-era federal laws barring armed federal personnel at polling locations to prevent voter intimidation.
The plaintiffs include the League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause and UnidosUS. Their lawyers wrote, “the specter of armed officers at polling places threatens the freedom of this upcoming election.”
“It places voters in fear that they will be confronted by armed federal immigration enforcement officers if they choose to cast a ballot,” they added.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said earlier this month that ICE would appear at polling places if there is a threat or a warrant for “someone that we have been actively tracking down.” He made similar remarks in a June interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt, saying ICE would not be at polling locations because “only people that should be voting there is American citizens.”
Democratic lawmakers have criticized any notion of armed ICE officers operating at polling locations, echoing the lawsuit in suggesting their presence amounts to voter intimidation.
The Department of Justice has plans to deploy monitors to voting sites this November. The Trump administration has also sought restrictions on mail-in voting and the creation of voter lists alongside the added security.
