ICE at Polling Places? Sec. Mullin Defends Potential Role in 2026 Elections

The 2026 midterms are looming on the horizon as the nation makes the journey into summer, and while lots of folks won't start paying too much attention until the traditional post-Labor Day campaigns begin in earnest, the election is already a hot topic on the news cycle - as is the security of not only those elections, but the physical security of polling places is also of concern.

On Sunday, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin appeared on CNN's State of the Union with CNN's Kasie Hunt to discuss the possible deployment of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to polling places, and while making some good points about how their presence shouldn't be required, he wouldn't rule out such a deployment for security reasons.

Will Secretary Mullin rule out sending ICE agents to polling places in November? pic.twitter.com/zim50A7FKG
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) June 14, 2026

Here's that conversation:

Kasie Hunt: At your hearings recently, you didn't rule out sending ICE agents to the polls, in the midterms. Are you willing to rule out sending ICE agents to polling places in November?
Markwayne Mullin: No. What I said was, we would only be there if a threat has arisen.
Kasie Hunt: So you're not ruling it out.
Markwayne Mullin: Keep in mind why would ICE be there? The only people that should be there, should be voting there, is (sic) American citizens. There shouldn't be any immigration enforcement. This should be a moot deal for anyone.
Kasie Hunt: So why would there be a certain sense that there...
Markwayne Mullin: So, keep in mind, ICE agents are there to flex, if we need to. So you saw ICE at TSA lines, not processing, but in the soft areas. If a threat were to arise, and for whatever reason at a polling station, say a bomb threat would be called in, our ICE agents are more than just immigration and customs enforcement. They're also trained to have an SRT (Special Response Team), which means we can have an emergency team to respond quickly and deal with (that.) The only reason we would be there is not for voter identification. It would be because the law enforcement is needed and the local law enforcement would be a part of that conversation, and so we wouldn't show up on our own. We would be getting asked to show up. But not for immigration purposes. Because, as I said, the only people that should be in line are American citizens. So there should be no reason to have them there for that.

Key point: ICE has capabilities beyond just locating and apprehending illegal aliens.

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The cold fact is that the 2026 midterms may be as contentious an election as the United States has conducted since 1860. There may well be untoward acts aimed at polling stations. The level of political violence, most notably from the left, is troubling, and no law enforcement agency at any level, from local to federal, should be ruling out any necessity to protect polling locations.

Secretary Mullin points out that any ICE involvement will only come at the request of local law enforcement, and that there should be no reason to be concerned about non-citizens being present, because, as the left continually tries to remind us, illegal aliens never attempt to vote. Right?

Right?

Right now, with the midterms months away, this is largely a speculative issue, and if the elections go off smoothly, there would be no particular reason for any federal law enforcement involvement. This is not a normal midterm year, though, and frankly, nothing should be off the table at this point.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.

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