Steve Bannon urges immigration agents to patrol US polling sites during midterm elections

Steve Bannon, the former White House strategist and rightwing podcast host, said he wants to see immigration agents at the polls in November, a proposal that election officials have feared.Bannon has no formal power, but is an influential figure on the far right and is closely tied with the Trump administration.Donald Trump this week again suggested that the federal government “should take over the voting” and federalize elections, which are run by local and state jurisdictions, as part of his ongoing false claims that Democrats have stolen elections. He also reiterated lies that undocumented people are brought to the US to vote and their participation led to Democratic electoral victories.Repeating false claims that undocumented people vote in large numbers in US elections, Bannon said on his War Room show on Tuesday: “You’re damn right we’re gonna have ICE surround the polls come November.”The comments come as elections officials nationwide grow more concerned about potential interference from the Trump administration in this year’s midterms. One of those fears is that immigration agents will be near polling places or have a heavy footprint in Democratic areas on election day.Law enforcement presence at the polls is generally seen as a negative among election officials, and in some places subject to legal parameters, because it can intimidate voters from casting their ballots. Immigration agents, in particular, have caused people – including US citizens and otherwise legal residents – to stay home for fear of detention or racial profiling.Trump has attempted to take over aspects of elections via an executive order that, among other provisions, would have required proof of citizenship to vote. Courts have blocked much of the order from going into effect, recognizing the states’ roles in managing elections. Congress also has considered bills that would require proof of citizenship, though those efforts appear stalled.In Minnesota, where thousands of agents have surged in the last month, the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, issued a set of demands to the state to get the government to draw down its agents. Among those demands: the state turning over its voter rolls to the federal government. The Department of Justice has requested and is suing to get access to the voter rolls in several states, and elections officials have fought back against the requests over privacy and security concerns.“Let’s put you on notice again: ICE is going to be around the polls in the 2026 midterm elections,” Bannon said, adding that the Democrats were mostly “the credentialed class” who keep “the abject poor … on these social welfare programs and never let them off it”.