Trump has no ’formal plans’ to deploy ICE at polling sites, White House says

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in Washington on February 5, 2026, that President Donald Trump has not discussed any formal plans to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to polling sites during the upcoming November midterm elections. The statement was issued to clarify the administration's stance after the President previously suggested that Republicans should "nationalize" voting in specific locations. While Leavitt noted the lack of official strategy, she notably declined to fully rule out the presence of immigration agents near voting centers, stating she could not guarantee their absence. The controversy surrounding the potential use of federal agents stems from recent remarks by the President and his former adviser, Steve Bannon. Bannon claimed on his podcast that ICE agents would "surround the polls" to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting, a claim predicated on unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud. These comments have sparked significant concern among Democratic lawmakers, who argue that the presence of armed federal agents would serve as a form of voter intimidation, potentially discouraging both citizens and legal residents from participating in the democratic process due to fear of racial profiling or detention. Legal and legislative hurdles remain a significant barrier to the President’s suggested federalization of elections. Federal law explicitly prohibits the deployment of military troops at polling stations, and many states have individual laws banning firearms at voting sites. Furthermore, high-ranking Republicans have expressed discomfort with the proposal; Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson both emphasized that the responsibility for administering elections has traditionally and legally remained with individual states rather than the federal government. This tension arrives as the Trump administration intensifies its scrutiny of state-level election management. The Justice Department has launched lawsuits against nearly two dozen states concerning their voter rolls, and the FBI recently conducted a search of an election office in Georgia’s Fulton County. Critics view these actions, combined with the rhetoric regarding ICE deployment, as an ongoing effort to challenge the integrity of the 2020 election results while laying the groundwork for increased federal intervention in future contests.