Judge Howell: ICE Reversed Its No-Records Answer on Polling-Place FOIA Only After the DNC Cited Polling-Place Incidents; Orders 1,000 Pages a Month

In the DNC’s Freedom of Information Act suit over federal agents at polling places, ICE told the DNC on June 10, 2026 that its search had found no records. On July 13, 2026, Judge Beryl A. Howell wrote that ICE “has now reversed its position only after plaintiff pointed out” enforcement actions by ICE agents outside polling places in Texas and California, a New York polling-place encounter, and Secretary Mullin’s testimony. ICE now reported 11,103 potentially responsive pages. She ordered processing at a rate of at least 1,000 pages per month, including the month of July, and said ICE and CBP “appear to be noncompliant” with her earlier order.

The New York encounter reached the order in the DNC’s words: “ICE agents also entered an active polling place in New York to confront a poll worker over a months-old Instagram post addressing the killing of Renee Good.” The court quoted that description and made no finding about the encounter itself. AP, the source the DNC cited, reported that the poll worker returned the call to ask the officers to come into the polling place, where she felt safer meeting them.