#SteveBannon suggested #ICE agents’ presence in airports is a "test-run" ahead of the 2026 #midterms

The high-profile deployment of #Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents to airports has renewed support on the right & fear on the left about the possibility of ICE going to the polls in November.

#Trump #Republicans #law #ElectionLaw #ElectionInterference #VoterSuppression #VotingRights #StateSponsoredTerrorism #intimidation #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/25/politics/ice-agents-polling-places-bannon

ICE agents have been deployed to airports. Are the polls next?

The high-profile deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports has renewed support on the right and fear on the left about the possibility of ICE going to the polls in November.

CNN

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, told CNN’s Dana Bash Tuesday that the #airport #ICE deployment fits what he sees as a broader strategy∶ using the #military & federal law enforcement to help #Trump hold #power — including, potentially, during the #midterms.

“These are all tools of how the president is trying to think about a much larger plan, which is, if you cannot hold onto power through democratic #elections, then adjust democratic elections,” Moore told CNN.

#law #ElectionLaw #fascism

AZ Democratic Secy of State Adrian Fontes said he’s brushing off Bannon’s comments until something “official” emerges. But he noted #Republicans in AZ’s #state #legislature had proposed requiring #federal #immigration agents at every polling place, drop box & early #voting site in 2026—an idea that never advanced.

“It’s perfectly well acknowledged that #ICE is not permitted in our polling places…If there is overreach, we’re going to meet it with every lever of power that we have,” Fontes said.

#Federal #law bars deploying federal “troops or armed men” to polling places, except to repel “armed enemies of the United States.” #Elections are run by #states, despite #Trump’s calls to “nationalize” #voting in certain places.

“Sending #ICE or any federal agents to interfere in elections or intimidate voters would be unlawful, & I am confident that courts would step in,” said Wendy Weiser, VP for #democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice.

#ElectionLaw #ElectionInterference #intimidation

18 U.S. Code § 592 - Troops at polls

LII / Legal Information Institute