Illinois congressmen worry as DHS Secretary seeks to ‘protect election integrity’

By Sean Reed | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A potential plan to deploy federal immigration agents to polling places this fall is illegal and would suppress voters, an Illinois congressman warned this week, while demanding answers from top brass at the Department of Homeland Security.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., warned that sending ICE or Homeland Security personnel to voting sites would be illegal and create a “chilling effect” on voter rights.

“Even the perceived presence of immigration enforcement personnel near polling places, especially in communities with large immigrant or mixed-status populations, could chill lawful voter participation and undermine confidence in the fair and impartial administration of elections,” Krishnamoorthi wrote in his letter.

Last week, Mullin made the argument to CNN hosts that ICE deployment shouldn’t be ruled out, citing a potential for non-citizens to fraudulently attempt to vote in the coming election.

“We’re going to make sure that our constitution is upheld, meaning that only citizens of the United States are voting. That’s the most important thing we can do to protect the integrity of our election,” Mullin said.

In April, Sean Morales-Doyle, director of voting rights and elections with the Brennan Center for Justice, spoke to the Illinois Accountability Commission in a hearing.

The commission was created by the state in response to DHS’s Operation Midway Blitz, which sought to detain undocumented immigrants with criminal records in the Chicago area in September of last year – but faced heavy local scrutiny for how agencies conducted the operation.

Morales-Doyle testified that his organization had no indication of any active plans by the federal governments to deploy agents at the polling locations.

“We at the Brennan Center are not aware of any plans currently underway within the federal government to deploy armed law enforcement to the polls. Indeed, administration officials have denied the existence of any such plans,” Morales-Doyle said.

Despite concerns, Morales-Doyle said the potential for agents to be deployed primarily creates fear in voters that could make them hesitant to show up to polls.

“The sheer number of individual election districts and polling places around our country mean that no matter what ICE or CBP try to do, the vast majority of voters in this country will remain unaffected,” Morales-Doyle said.

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., issued a statement last week after reporting from Axios revealed Homeland Security Investigations, a unit within DHS, obtained local voter rolls from two counties – one in Texas and the other North Carolina.

“The Trump administration is using DHS to violate our rights, erode our privacy, chill dissent, and consolidate power. We will not concede the power of the people,” Ramirez said in the statement.

Data collected by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank with close ties to the current administration, shows 44 cases of voter fraud nationwide in 2024.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that roughly 154 million people voted in the 2024 election.

Illinois lawmakers sought to prevent people from concealed carrying a gun while at a polling location, which drove criticisms from Republicans who worried it could infringe upon the duties of law enforcement officers. The initiative did not progress.

Lawmakers also overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging federal agencies to refrain from operating near or at polling locations, while also affirming that the Illinois State Board of Elections administer all upcoming elections without allowing for interference from any third party.