Deputy AG Blanche Endorses ICE at 2026 Polling Places, Declines to Promise Compliance With Anti-Intimidation Law

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche endorsed deploying ICE agents to polling places during the November 2026 midterms at CPAC, questioning why anyone would oppose it, then declined to promise he’d follow laws prohibiting voter intimidation. Steve Bannon separately called ICE’s airport enforcement campaign “perfect training for the fall of 2026.” ICE subsequently reversed a FOIA denial, admitting it may hold documents on agents-at-polls planning. DHS stated ICE has “no current plans” to target polling sites but left the door open based on “available intelligence.” Senator Markey led a 12-senator letter demanding explicit assurances from DOJ, DHS, and DOD.

This is the most direct executive-branch endorsement yet of using immigration enforcement as a mechanism of voter intimidation, and connects directly to the broader airport-enforcement expansion documented later in July (2026-07-30–ice-widens-airport-arrests-legally-present-migrants-tsa-checkpoint) — the same enforcement apparatus Bannon frames as “training” for a polling-place operation.