DHS Secretary Mullin Says ICE Could Enter Polling Places to Serve Warrants or Respond to Threats

At the same September 1, 2026 New York press conference where he touted Operation Rotten Apple, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters 'ICE isn't there to patrol the polling places. We're there to enforce specific threats,' but said officers could enter a polling site 'if there is a threat to that polling place or we're serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down,' adding 'If we're serving a warrant, we will be where we need to be.' Mullin said he could not guarantee ICE agents would not be present at polling places during the November 2026 midterms. The comments followed weeks of alarm from Democrats and voting-rights groups over remarks by Trump ally Steve Bannon that ICE should 'surround the polls' in November, and came despite a federal statute barring armed federal agents from being stationed at locations where elections are conducted.