Denver sues to block ICE officers from voting sites

The city of Denver filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from going to voting sites.

The lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Markwayne Mullin argues that ordering federal officers to carry out detainments and serve warrants violated the “troops at polls” law.

The troops at polls law , established by Congress during the Civil War, imposed fines and potential jail time for federal officers who show up to “any place where a general or special election is held, unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.”

The lawyers for Denver and other plaintiffs — including immigrant rights groups 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 continued.

Mullin clarified on Sept. 1 that his policy would only order ICE officers to appear at polling places “if there is a threat to that polling place or we’re serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down.”

The plaintiffs pushed back on this claim, citing violent encounters with officers over the past year — notably two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed in separate incidents in January.

They also cited a ProPublica report that alleged ICE had detained more than 170 U.S. citizens in the first nine months of President Trump’s second term.

“DHS Defendants’ failure to engage in reasoned decision making and disregard for existing federal law taints the Polling Place Policy,” they wrote.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston wrote in a statement Thursday that stationing ICE officers near voting sites “is only meant to scare people and suppress votes.”

“We’ll fight tooth and nail to prevent it,” he said.

UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía similarly called the move by ICE “voter suppression plain and simple.”

The lawsuit comes amid concerns from Democrats about federal government officials having a presence at voting sites during this year’s midterm elections.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has plans to deploy monitors to voting sites this November, and The Hill’s sister network NewsNation reports that the DOJ deployed monitors in Rhode Island Wednesday during the Ocean State’s primary election.

The Trump administration is also pursuing restrictions on mail-in voting and creating voter lists alongside the added ICE security — though the window to implement these rules is closing as Election Day is about two months away.

ICE did not respond to The Hill’s request for immediate comment.