ICE has no plans to ‘sweep polling locations’ for noncitizens, Homan says

White House border czar Tom Homan on Sunday said there are no plans in place for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to “sweep polling locations” in the November midterm elections.

Homan told Fox News host Jacqui Heinrich on “The Sunday Briefing” that he has not seen “any operational plans or any discussions on any immigration enforcement operation at polling places,” after 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 about the claims. “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’s 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.”

Latino civil rights and voting rights groups, along with the city of Denver, last week filed a lawsuit to block ICE from polling locations. The plaintiffs cited post-Civil War-era federal laws barring armed federal personnel at polling locations to prevent the intimidation of voters.

Lawyers for Denver and other plaintiffs — which include the League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause and UnidosUS — wrote, “the specter of armed officers at polling places threatens the freedom of this upcoming election.”

“It places voters in fear that they will be confronted by armed federal immigration enforcement officers if they choose to cast a ballot,” they added.

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.” He made similar remarks in an interview with CNN’s Kasie Hunt in June, noting that ICE would not be at polling locations because the “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 would amount 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 to create voter lists alongside the added security.