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Homan says no ICE polling place raids planned for midterms

By: Claire Reynolds Date:

White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday said there are no plans for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to “sweep polling locations” in the November midterm elections. Homan’s denial comes as Latino civil rights and voting rights groups, along with the city of Denver, filed a lawsuit last week seeking to block ICE from polling locations.

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.” Heinrich asked if there was any truth to claims that ICE will 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.”

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which includes immigrant rights groups League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause and UnidosUS, cited post-Civil War-era federal laws barring armed federal personnel at polling locations to prevent voter intimidation.

Lawyers for Denver and the other plaintiffs wrote that “the specter of armed officers at polling places threatens the freedom of this upcoming election” and “places voters in fear that they will be confronted by armed federal immigration enforcement officers if they choose to cast a ballot.”

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.” Mullin made similar remarks in an interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt in June, noting that ICE would not be at polling locations because “only people that should be voting there is American citizens.”

Democratic lawmakers have slammed 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 to pursue restrictions on mail-in voting and create voter lists alongside the added security.

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Claire Reynolds

Reporter at DukeCityWire, covering the city beat.

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Claire Reynolds-