A senior Department of Homeland Security official told the nation’s top state election officials on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would not be present at polling locations during the November elections, according to multiple people on the call.
Heather Honey, DHS deputy assistant secretary for election integrity, made the commitment during a briefing, which also included officials from the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Election Assistance Commission.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, told MS NOW that the pledge was welcome, but it fell short of alleviating his concerns.
“There is still great and well-founded fear of the possibility of direct or indirect interference by the federal government,” he said. “No question that this is a welcome pledge but we’ll see what happens over the next eight months.”
Several Democratic election officials on the call said they don’t trust Honey’s commitment — in part because of her background. Honey, a known denier of the results of the 2020 election, joined the Trump administration last year as a lead official working on elections integrity in DHS’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes was blunt in his assessment.
“Heather Honey actively participated in the Cyber Ninjas audit here in Arizona,” Fontes said in a text message. “I don’t believe her. She has no credibility, she has no integrity.”
Before joining the Trump administration, Honey worked as a contractor for Cyber Ninjas, the firm hired to conduct a partisan review of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County, Arizona. That audit was based on falsehoods spread by President Donald Trump and his allies about fraud in the presidential election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden.
On the call, Honey told the election chiefs that “any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true,” according to a statement issued by Fontes’ office recounting her comments.
Asked for comment on Honey’s remarks, a DHS official told MS NOW that “ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” but added that “if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location,” a “targeted enforcement action” could take place.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, left the call with more questions than answers. She said federal officials declined to answer specific questions about the SAVE Act — Trump-backed legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot — and would not publicly affirm that states, not the federal government, hold constitutional authority over elections.
When the federal agencies on the call refused to make public statements reinforcing the constitutional principle that the states, not the federal government, are in charge of elections, top administration officials were taken aback.
“There was a stunned silence,” Bellows said.
“I did not walk away from this meeting reassured that the federal government wouldn’t try to interfere in state sovereignty over the election, because they could not provide that reassurance in their comments,” she said.
Bellows also confirmed that DHS told states ICE would not be deployed at polling places — for this election cycle. “That would be completely unlawful and unconstitutional,” she said. “Should the answer be anything different?” Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, also posted on X that DHS confirmed, “ICE agents will not be at voting locations this year.” The briefing came amid escalating tension over the Trump administration’s approach to elections. Trump has repeatedly, and without evidence, said American elections are “rigged” and “stolen,” threatening to impose federal oversight of elections in certain jurisdictions. Some Republican allies have publicly called for deploying federal immigration agents to polling stations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in February that she had never heard Trump discuss sending ICE agents to polling locations, but she declined to rule it out entirely. “I can’t guarantee an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November – I mean, frankly, that’s a very silly hypothetical question,” Leavitt said. In the weeks before the 2024 election, then-candidate Trump suggested that the military might be needed at polling locations, despite federal law forbidding such use of active-duty troops. “I think the bigger problem are the people from within,” Trump said while discussing his claims of elections being “rigged” against him. “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical-left lunatics. It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by the National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.” In a February interview with NBC News, Trump also explicitly threatened to put “federal controls” into place in certain jurisdictions “if they can’t do it properly.”
Laura Barrón-López covers the White House for MS NOW.
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.
Vaughn Hillyard is a senior White House reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
