Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has backed the presence of ICE agents at polling stations, a move critics fear could have a chilling effect on voter turnout.
Days after immigration agents were deployed across airports to tackle the chaos caused by a funding stalemate, Blanche opened the door to the possible use of immigration officials in U.S. elections.
“Why is there an objection to sending ICE officers to polling places?” he asked during a conversation with CPAC boss Matt Schlapp. “Illegals can’t vote.”
Schlapp quickly interjected. “They can; they just shouldn’t vote,” he said, ensuring they stayed on message with the GOP narrative.
Blanche, who used to be Trump’s personal attorney, also boasted about the scores of people who have either left or been sacked from the Justice Department and the FBI since Trump was re-elected.
“There is not a single man or woman with a gun, federal agent, still in that organization that had anything to do with the prosecution of President Trump,” he said of the FBI.
“President Trump, for the first time in modern history, has said: ‘I am the president and if you work in the executive branch, you work for me‘.”
The comments about ICE agents at polling stations make Blanche the most senior member of the Trump administration so far to back the idea.
Former Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem refused to rule it out but told lawmakers, before she was sacked, that there were “no plans” to expand ICE’s role in elections.
Her replacement, Markwayne Mullin, told his confirmation hearing last week that he would consider deploying federal law enforcement to polling booths, but “not for intimidation.”
“The only reason they would be there is that there was a specific threat for them to be there,” he said when pressed by Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin.
“I can’t sit there and guarantee hypothetically what threat would be there or not.”
And MAGA stalwart Steve Bannon has pushed repeatedly for the idea, saying this month that the presence of ICE at airports could be a “test run” for the upcoming midterm elections.
the presence of ICE agents at polling stations,
But Blanche’s new comments land in the middle of an already heated debate. Voting rights groups and Democratic lawmakers have warned that any visible ICE presence near polling locations could deter eligible voters—particularly in immigrant communities—from casting ballots, even if agents are not directly interacting with voters.
Several states are now exploring legislation to explicitly bar federal immigration agents from operating near polling places, citing longstanding prohibitions on intimidation at the polls.
And while Trump has not explicitly ruled the idea in or out, he has nonetheless made other suggestions that have raised concerns.
Last month, for instance, he urged Republicans to “nationalize” elections and place voting under federal authority, in one of his most explicit signs yet that he wants to game the system.
Such a move would be extremely difficult, given that the U.S. Constitution gives state governments primary authority to determine how elections are conducted—including how ballots are cast, counted, and certified.
Trump on several occasions has also spoken about cancelling the midterm elections in November, rather than risk Republicans losing control of the House, Senate, or both.
This would inevitably stall Trump’s agenda and expose him to congressional investigations.
His newest obsession is the SAVE Act, which would require American citizens to show documents like a passport or birth certificate to register to vote.
Research from the left-leaning Brenna Center, however, shows that more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to those documents. Roughly half of Americans don’t have a passport and millions lack access to a paper copy of their birth certificate.
But Trump told Republicans last week to forgo their Easter break to ensure the Act passed.
“You don’t have to take a fast vote, don’t worry about Easter, going home—in fact, make this one for Jesus," he said.
