ICE chief admits there’s no reason for immigration agents to be at voting sites

Todd Lyons, the acting chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has admitted to senators that federal immigration officers would have “no reason” to be at voting locations this November.

His comments follow alarming statements by President Donald Trump and his close allies that threatened voting in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections — including with the deployment of immigration officers to polling places.

They also come at a moment when Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) has included an explicit ban on using federal law enforcement and the military to patrol the polls in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill currently being debated in Congress.

During a Senate Homeland Security Committee Thursday, Sen. Ellissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) asked Lyons whether federal immigration agents have the authority to police polls.

“There’s no reason for us to deploy to a polling facility,” he said in response, marking the first time a senior Trump official has publicly gone on the record to say that ICE has no business in monitoring voting sites.

But that doesn’t mean that immigration agents won’t deploy to the polls.

Slotkin pressed Lyons on this issue, asking what he would do if Trump or Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered ICE agents to polling places in battleground states like Georgia or her home state of Michigan.

Lyons didn’t explicitly say whether he would refuse such a directive. Instead, he reiterated that agents would have little reason to be outside voting sites. 

Lyon also offered a “point of clarification.” He noted that Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s primary investigative directorate and largest component of the agency, has a hand in investigating allegations of voter fraud.

“That’s fine. I’m talking about something that I think would be extraordinary in American history, which is uniformed and masked ICE agents encircling polling places,” Slotkin said. “You’re going to be the guy standing in the breach.”

“Like I said, there’s no reason to use ICE officers,” Lyons replied.

Earlier this month Steve Bannon, president Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, called on the president to use immigration officers to “surround” voting sites in upcoming 2026 midterm elections.

Bannon’s comments came just a day after Trump said he believed that Republicans should “nationalize voting,” escalating concerns that the president is plotting to interfere in this year’s midterm elections.

Both Bannon’s and Trump’s comments were based on false claims of widespread voter fraud by noncitizens.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last week dismissed a question about Bannon’s proposal — but not entirely. She also said she “can’t guarantee” that ICE agents wouldn’t be near voting locations.

After the Senate’s hearing with Lyons concluded, Padilla took to the chamber floor to propose an amendment to a bill to fund DHS that would bar ICE, intelligence, federal law enforcement and military personnel from illegally patrolling polling sites.

Federal law already prohibits the use of federal troops and law enforcement to intimidate voters and interfere in elections, but Padilla’s amendment would explicitly prohibit funds from being used for those purposes.

“It’s time to send the administration a clear message that in the United States of America elections will be decided by the voters — not by force,” Padilla said while announcing his amendment.

The federal government will enter a partial shut down Saturday unless lawmakers strike a last-minute deal to fund DHS.