Heather Honey, a deputy assistant secretary for election integrity at the Department of Homeland Security, told state election administrators that immigration agents from ICE would not be stationed at polling places during November’s midterm elections, according to statements relayed to the Associated Press on Wednesday. The assurances were aimed at addressing fears among Democrats about possible election interference and federal law-enforcement presence at polling locations.
The pledge was shared in a call that federal agencies held to coordinate for the midterms. According to Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Honey told the group that “any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true,” a line Fontes said came from the DHS official.
Fontes is a Democrat, and he said the promise was made during the call. A spokeswoman for Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read also said Honey made the pledge, while Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, posted on X that the promise came from “DHS.”
The call included representatives from the FBI, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the Postal Service and other federal agencies, the AP report said. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
The report characterized the call as routine in other years, but said this year’s conversation unfolded amid heightened concerns for election officials. It noted that election administration power is vested in states, with most states assigning authority to elected secretaries of state under the U.S. Constitution.
Participants said Democratic secretaries of state asked Honey questions about Trump administration cuts to election security funding, about a campaign to “root out noncitizen voting,” and about fears that federal law enforcement officers could appear at polling places in the fall. The AP report said these topics were among the questions raised during the call.
The AP report also described recent steps by the Trump administration that Democrats and election lawyers have viewed as unsettling for election officials. It said the Justice Department has filed lawsuits seeking detailed voter data without providing a rationale, and it said Trump has renewed false claims that fraud marred the 2020 election and urged his administration to investigate. The report also said the FBI raided an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, to seize ballots and other voting records from 2020.
In response to concerns about federal immigration enforcement around elections, the AP report said the White House has scoffed at the fears before, pointing to the lack of disruption during last year’s election when Democrats did well. It also cited a congressional hearing earlier in the month in which the heads of ICE and Customs and Border Protection answered “No, sir” when asked if they were involved in efforts to guard voting precincts.
The AP report further described political context behind the worry from Democratic secretaries of state, saying Trump pardoned those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, on his behalf. It also said Democrats view Trump’s administration as having staffed people who supported efforts to overturn results in 2020, and it said Honey’s appearance on the call underscored that, in their view, federal involvement could look different this cycle.