A voter carries a ballot during early voting in the New York City mayoral elections on October 25, 2025.
(Washington, DC) – The United States government should order federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers not to operate in the vicinity of polling places, early voting locations, or drop boxes during the midterm electoral period, Human Rights Watch said today. The presence of these federal agents could deter people from voting.
“ICE officers’ abuses have already seriously affected US citizens who have been stopped, beaten, detained, deported, and even killed,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “Voters should not have to fear being caught in an ICE dragnet when they head to the polls.”
In-person early voting is already taking place in the majority of states. In a nationwide September poll, 40 percent of respondents said they expect some kind of ICE presence at polls, with even higher percentages among non-white respondents expecting to see ICE agents in places people vote.
Federal law generally prohibits federal officials from sending “troops or armed men” to voting sites. Several state laws prohibit any armed officers, including police, from engaging in acts that could interfere with the elections or intimidate voters by their presence near polling places. Some states bar law enforcement officers, including police, from being in close proximity to polling places at all unless they are responding to a specific incident.
Despite these robust prohibitions, neither President Donald Trump nor the heads of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been willing to rule out the possibility that federal agents, including ICE, may be at places where people vote.
In March, then-Deputy Attorney General and now-Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Why is there an obje
