DOJ Says It Won’t Deploy FBI, ICE Agents as Poll Monitors - Newsweek

The Trump administration said FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will not serve as federal election monitors during the 2026 general election, according to a Justice Department court filing Wednesday.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in an October 28 declaration filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that it is not using sworn law enforcement officers with arrest powers as monitors in a law enforcement capacity.

Those serving as monitors are being instructed to observe polling places, take notes and, when appropriate, speak with willing voters outside after they have cast their ballots. This is according to a declaration filed in federal court in Washington.

The declaration was submitted by Eric Neff, acting chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Voting Section, in litigation brought by the NAACP over a Freedom of Information Act request. Neff signed the declaration under penalty of perjury.

A spokesperson for the DOJ told Newsweek: "The department has never said that it would send federal law enforcement to the polls. This is not new."

The Justice Department said its election monitors will follow practices used in past cycles, receive training on federal and local law, and be barred from carrying firearms or displaying identifying federal attire. The filing says monitors will include employees from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, ATF and DEA, as well as one Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employee detailed to the department. While serving as monitors, they may perform only routine Civil Rights Division monitoring duties.

Under the Trump administration's widespread deportation operation, the government has deployed resources from several federal agencies such as CBP, ATF and DEA to assist ICE with enacting its immigration enforcement agenda.

The filing comes amid growing scrutiny over the potential presence of federal law enforcement at polling places, following two incidents involving federal agents near early voting sites in Florida, one of which prompted a complaint to the FBI. Federal law generally prohibits deploying armed federal personnel to polling places, except to repel armed enemies of the United States.

The Trump administration has consistently said it has no plans for federal agents to patrol polling sites. However, President Donald Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and FBI Director Kash Patel have declined to rule out their presence.

"There will be no Federal Bureau of Investigation or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, much less agents, serving as monitors," Neff said in the declaration.

He added that the Civil Rights Division was not aware of any other Department of Homeland Security employees taking part in its 2026 monitoring. Neff said the CBP employee would be acting on behalf of the Civil Rights Division rather than DHS.

Monitors have been instructed not to interfere with voters or election officials, to follow state and local rules, not to speak with voters inside polling places and to speak with voters outside only after they have voted, the declaration said.

The Justice Department has not yet finalized all locations where monitors will be deployed and has not set an internal deadline for completing the list before Election Day, according to Neff.

It follows two recent incidents involving federal immigration personnel near early voting locations in Florida.

In Leon County, two U.S. Border Patrol vehicles briefly parked outside the Northeast Branch Library in Tallahassee shortly after early voting began. Elections Supervisor Mark S. Earley said the vehicles remained for about 10 minutes and that he filed a formal complaint with the FBI.

CBP told Newsweek that the officers, who were traveling from Florida to Brownsville, Texas, for an out-of-state deployment, had stopped only to ask whether they could vote early before leaving Florida.

"While en route, the officers, who were out of uniform, briefly stopped at the polling location to ask whether they could vote early before departing the state. Election officials advised them that they were eligible to vote only in their home county," a CBP spokesperson told Newsweek.

In a separate incident in Monroe County, federal immigration agents were seen near an early voting location in Key Largo. CBP said Border Patrol agents had been conducting a targeted immigration enforcement operation and that the driver they were pursuing pulled into a parking lot adjacent to the polling location. The agency said the operation had no connection to the polling place or voting activity.

Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies said Wednesday that an investigation found CBP officers who detained a motorist near a Key Largo early voting site did not enter its 150-foot no-solicitation zone or interfere with voting. She said the incident was unrelated to the voting site and did not involve intentional voter intimidation.

"Having investigated the allegations and determined what actually happened, I am satisfied that this was an event that was unrelated to the voting site and did not involve intentional voter intimidation. I appreciate the efforts of all agencies involved and want to reassure our voters to come out and vote and make your voice heard," Hodies told Newsweek in a statement.

Several Trump allies have called for federal agents to be deployed at polling places during the midterm elections. The DHS, however, has said ICE is not planning operations targeting polling locations. But the department has left open the possibility of targeted enforcement involving an active public safety threat.

Separately, Arlington County, Virginia, sued the Trump administration this month seeking to block armed federal agents from polling places during the midterms. The lawsuit challenges alleged policies allowing armed federal agents, including ICE and FBI officers, to conduct enforcement operations at polling places or other election sites. It says that their presence could intimidate voters and interfere with local election administration.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

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Update, 10/29/26 8:32 a.m. ET: this article was updated with comment from the DOJ.