WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has not discussed “formal plans” to deploy US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling sites at November’s midterm elections, the White House said on Thursday, while declining to rule out their presence near voting locations.
Trump said on Monday that Republicans should “nationalize” and “take over” voting in at least 15 unspecified locations, repeating his false claims that US elections are plagued by widespread fraud.
His remarks were echoed by Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser and influential right-wing commentator, who repeated false claims that people living in the US illegally vote in large numbers and said on his War Room podcast on Tuesday, “You’re damn right we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November.”
Asked about Bannon’s comments, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November … but what I can tell you is I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations.”
Federal law prohibits the president from deploying military troops at any location holding a general or special election, and several states criminalize carrying firearms at or near polling places. Immigration enforcement, in particular, has caused both US citizens and legal residents to stay home out of fear of detention or racial profiling.
