The Department of Homeland Security told Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and other election officials from across the country that it will not place immigration enforcement agents at voting locations this year.
Fontes participated in an elections briefing on Wednesday with officials from DHS, the FBI, the Election Assistance Commission, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
During the call, Heather Honey, a DHS assistant secretary for election integrity, said the agency will not place ICE agents at polls. Fontes also accused Honey, an election conspiracist who spread unproven claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, of spreading “misinformation and brazen lies about election administration and security issues.”
“However, I am pleased to announce that it was clearly stated by Ms. Honey during the call that ICE will not be placed at any polling location in 2026 and any statement otherwise is disinformation by saying, “‘Any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true,’” Fontes said in a statement.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it has no plans to put ICE at voting locations, though it did not rule out the possibility that agents may approach polling places in the course of their other duties.
“ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations,” according to a statement provided to KJZZ. “ICE conducts intelligence-driven targeted enforcement, and if an active public safety threat endangered a polling location, they may be arrested as a result of that targeted enforcement action.”
The statements come a week after a Republican bill that would have paved the way for immigration agents at voting locations in Arizona stalled in the state Senate.
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