Trump admin says agents won't be sent to polls but Democrats point to what officials said

WASHINGTON, DC: Democratic Party leadership and campaign organizations have sued the Trump administration over the possible deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at polling stations in the upcoming midterm election this fall.

However, appearing on Fox News’s 'The Sunday Briefing' on Sunday, September 13, White House border czar Tom Homan said that there are no plans in place for ICE officers to “sweep polling locations” in the November midterm elections.

Dems sue Trump admin over possible agent deployment at polling stations

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, September 23, by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), as well as the Democratic campaign committees for both chambers of Congress and the Democratic Governors Association.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, accuses Trump law enforcement and immigration officials of demonstrating “by word and deed that they have established a policy of permitting their armed officers to appear at active polling sites.”

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and other senior Trump administration officials maintained that while there is no formal plan to systematically patrol polling sites, federal agents could be deployed under specific circumstances.

President Trump’s call to “nationalize the voting” in February this year raised alarm from Democrats.

Attorneys cite Markwayne Mullin in lawsuit

The plaintiffs’ attorneys pointed to comments made by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin during a September 1 press conference. Mullin said federal agents would only be at a polling place if they needed to respond to a threat or serve a warrant.

“DHS’s most recent statements confirm the existence of an agency policy that authorizes sending ICE officers to polling locations, so long as the agency either identifies a supposed ‘threat’, is seeking to serve a warrant, or is engaged in routine immigration enforcement activities,” the attorneys wrote in their filing.

The Democratic plaintiffs’ attorneys also pointed to FBI Director Kash Patel's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Democrats on the committee pressed Patel to commit to not sending FBI agents to polling places during the November elections.

In response to a question from Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), Patel said the agency would “follow the law.”

“If there’s a reason to go there because there’s been a violation of law, we will,” he said. “Otherwise, we won’t.”