Federal Law Enforcement (ICE) Has No Place at the Ballot Box

I am writing to urge immediate congressional action to prevent the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting immigration enforcement operations at or near polling places during federal elections. This is not a speculative concern. In recent months, senior figures aligned with the administration have openly discussed deploying federal law enforcement as a means of “taking control of the cities” during election periods. At the same time, the administration has dramatically expanded ICE enforcement authority, detention capacity, and operational discretion, while the Department of Justice has sued states attempting to protect voters from intimidation. Taken together, these actions make clear that the risk of ICE presence at polling locations is foreseeable, deliberate, and dangerous. That risk is no longer theoretical. On February 5, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked directly whether the administration could guarantee that ICE agents would not be present at polling locations in November. She declined to do so, stating, “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location.” The refusal to draw a bright line protecting polling places—particularly in light of explicit calls from Trump-aligned figures to deploy immigration agents at the polls—makes congressional action urgent and unavoidable. Federal courts have long recognized that voter intimidation does not require overt threats or arrests. The mere presence of armed law enforcement near polling places has a well-documented chilling effect on lawful voters, particularly in immigrant communities and communities of color. This is precisely why the Voting Rights Act and decades of election-law precedent treat intimidation broadly, focusing on effect rather than intent. As constitutional law scholars have explained, ICE agents have no special election-related authority, and nothing in federal law authorizes immigration enforcement at polling places. To the contrary, federal guidance has historically recognized polling locations as sensitive civic spaces requiring heightened protection from coercion and fear. Allowing DHS or ICE to operate in or around those spaces would directly undermine the right to vote. Recent litigation only heightens the urgency. The administration has already sought to normalize the presence of federal agents in traditionally civilian domains, from election administration to mass detention. Courts have warned that such actions blur the line between lawful enforcement and unconstitutional coercion. Congress should not wait for a constitutional violation to occur in real time on Election Day before acting. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to intervene now. I urge you to: • Enact a statutory prohibition on DHS and ICE enforcement operations within a defined radius of polling places during federal elections • Require clear, public DHS guidance barring immigration enforcement tied to election activity • Condition DHS appropriations on compliance with these restrictions • Hold immediate oversight hearings with DHS, ICE, and DOJ Civil Rights Division leadership regarding election-period enforcement plans Free and fair elections depend on public confidence that voting is safe, accessible, and free from coercion. Armed federal agents at polling places would destroy that confidence instantly and irreparably. Preventing voter intimidation is not a partisan demand. It is a constitutional obligation. Congress must act now to ensure that federal law enforcement is never used—directly or indirectly—to suppress lawful participation in our democracy.