President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, recently addressed whether there would be an ICE presence outside polling locations during the midterm elections. She initially stated that she does not think Trump has plans of doing it, but added that she could not fully “guarantee” ICE agents won’t be deployed during elections. The elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026.
Karoline Leavitt talks about ICE agents at polling places
During a press briefing, a reporter asked Leavitt whether ICE agents would be present at polling venues in November 2026. This question referenced a comment from former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who said in a podcast, “We’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November.”
Responding to the question, Leavitt added, “That’s not something I’ve ever heard the president consider, no.” However, she further clarified that she also cannot “guarantee” that ICE agents won’t surround the polling places during the midterm elections. She said, “I mean frankly, that’s a very silly, hypothetical question, but what I can tell you is I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations.”
In a recent conversation with NBC News, Trump also addressed two major incidents in Minnesota — the shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents. He initially stated that the administration could implement “a softer touch” on immigration while also emphasizing the need to be tough. Trump also voiced his grievances over the “bad publicity” his administration received in light of the two killings.
“You do thousands of arrests, you arrest thousands of rapists, you arrest thousands of the worst people, you arrest the drug dealers, I mean, we had drug kingpins, we had murderers, thousands. No incident, we bring them back to their country. Two people, it’s bad, I hate it. I hate even talking about it. Two people out of tens of thousands. Okay. And you get bad publicity,” he added.
