ICE agents confront New York poll worker during voting, as state prosecutors review incident

Two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents confronted a poll worker at a voting site in Syracuse, New York, as she was helping carry out the state’s recent primary elections. 

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) told Democracy Docket it’s reviewing a report on the alarming incident, which again raises the specter of federal agents interfering in active elections.

PaigeLynne Gonyea, who was working at a voting site at a public library Tuesday, said on social media that the agents came to warn her to remove a social media account that they claimed broke federal law by threatening federal law enforcement agents.

In fact, Gonyea appears to have only shared information about an ICE agent involved in a fatal Minnesota shooting that had been previously published online and reported in the press.

The incident comes as prominent figures on the far right have called on President Donald Trump to deploy ICE agents and troops to polling places in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections as part of a clear effort to intimidate voters and election workers.

Federal and state laws largely bar the deployment of law enforcement to polling places. However, the Trump administration has never definitively ruled out the tactic, while senior Department of Justice officials — including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — have endorsed it.

Dustin Czarny, a Democratic elections commissioner in Onondaga County, told Democracy Docket that he and other county election officials flagged the incident to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office.

Gonyea did not respond to Democracy Docket’s request for comment. ICE also did not respond to a request. 

Czarny said the confrontation did not affect voters and did not disrupt voting procedures at the site. However, the elections commissioner expressed concern that it will heighten fears of federal law enforcement interference in the upcoming midterms.

“People are scared,” Czarny said. “I want to assure the public, especially in my county, that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure polling operations are safe and secure in every election we hold.”

Gonyea, who often criticizes the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration operations on her Instagram account, said she believes the federal agents were specifically referring to a January post in which she cited a news report that identified Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.

“BREAKING: The ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good in broad daylight has been identified as Jonathan Ross by the Minnesota Star Tribune. I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted!” her post read.

If she didn’t remove her account, Gonyea could face “both federal and state prosecution,” according to a document she received during the confrontation. She said the agents asked her to sign the document to acknowledge she received the warning, but she refused.

The document also directed the ICE agents who served the notice to add their signatures, but that portion was blank in the image of the document Gonyea shared.

In a separate post, Gonyea said the agents first went to her home and spoke with her husband, who gave them her number. In a phone conversation, she invited the agents to the Onondaga County Central Library, a polling site in the state’s primary elections this week.

“They knew I was a poll site worker and still came in,” Gonyea said.

Despite Gonyea’s invitation, Czarny said state election law only allows specific people to enter a polling place, such as voters, state and local election officials, election workers and authorized poll watchers.

“We’ve always said that if law enforcement or fire safety personnel were there for emergency reasons, of course, they would be allowed in,” he said. “But that does not seem to be the case in this incident.” 

Under federal law, it is a crime to deploy federal troops or armed federal law enforcement to any polling place unless “such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.” 

New York law also explicitly protects against voter interference at polling sites by prohibiting immigration authorities from accessing the non-public areas of any state-owned or operated facility — which includes polling locations — without a judicial warrant.

Gonyea said she felt intimidated by the experience and that she was speaking out because “I believe it’s important that election workers are able to do their jobs without feeling pressured or afraid. It’s also important for the protection of freedom of speech and civil liberties.”

This story has been updated with additional information.