2026-03-25T09:00:33.876Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
美国移民与海关执法局（ICE）探员高调部署至机场，这一举措在右翼阵营中重获支持，而左翼则对ICE可能在11月选举中采取行动的可能性感到担忧。
史蒂夫·班农（Steve Bannon）正在敦促唐纳德·特朗普总统——特朗普本周末在其内阁内部令官员们感到意外，他下令ICE探员前往机场以缓解长时间排队问题——将这一行动视为2026年中期选举的预演，并辩称应该最终在投票站周围部署同样的武装人员。
“我们可以将这次行动用作试运行——一个测试案例——来真正完善ICE在2026年中期选举中的参与，”班农这位特朗普的长期盟友周一在其“战争室”播客节目中表示，并重申了他过去关于在投票站派驻执法人员的呼吁。
尽管班农在政府中没有正式职务，但其言论重新点燃了部分选举官员和民主党议员的担忧。他们担心特朗普政府可能试图将ICE用作政治武器——恐吓选民并在11月可能抑制投票率。他们认为，这种在投票地点的存在可能违反联邦法律。
民主党马里兰州州长韦斯·摩尔（Wes Moore）周二对美国有线电视新闻网的达纳·巴什（Dana Bash）表示，机场部署符合他所认为的更广泛战略：利用军队和联邦执法部门帮助特朗普维持权力——这可能包括在中期选举期间。
“这些都是总统试图制定更大计划的工具，即如果无法通过民主选举保住权力，就调整民主选举规则，”摩尔向美国有线电视新闻网表示。
亚利桑那州民主党州务卿阿德里安·丰特斯（Adrian Fontes）表示，在有“官方”行动之前，他暂不回应班农的言论。但他指出，亚利桑那州议会中的共和党人最近提议在2026年每个投票站、投票箱和早期投票地点部署联邦移民探员——这一想法从未付诸实施。
“众所周知，ICE不被允许进入我们的投票站，”丰特斯告诉美国有线电视新闻网，“如果有人越权，我们将动用一切权力进行应对。”
联邦法律规定，除了击退“美国的武装敌人”外，不得向投票站部署联邦“军队或武装人员”。尽管特朗普呼吁在某些地区“将投票全国化”，但选举仍是由各州管理的。
“派遣ICE或任何联邦探员干预选举或恐吓选民是违法的，我相信法院会介入，”倾向自由派的布伦南司法中心（Brennan Center for Justice）民主问题副主任温迪·魏瑟（Wendy Weiser）表示，“当这些离奇的威胁出现时，确实有理由感到担忧。但同时，也有充分理由保持冷静。”
政府方面的反驳
尽管班农和其他特朗普盟友的言论升级，一些政府官员仍驳斥这一想法是民主党人的“幻想”。
上个月，在与州选举官员的通话中，希瑟·哈尼（Heather Honey）——一位长期对选举持怀疑态度、现在担任国土安全部高级选举完整性官员的人士——表示，政府今年不会向投票站派遣ICE探员。此后，一群民主党州务卿书面要求政府做出这一承诺。
但一些特朗普政府官员并未完全排除可能性，暗示如果投票地点存在所谓威胁，联邦探员可能会被部署。
白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特（Karoline Leavitt）上月对记者表示，“我从未听说总统考虑过这一点”，并补充道，“我不能保证11月ICE探员不会出现在投票地点附近。坦率地说，这是一个非常荒谬的假设性问题。”
上周，在其确认听证会上，马克韦恩·穆林参议员（Sen. Markwayne Mullin）——周二宣誓就职以接替国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem）——并未排除这种可能性。
“我的官员出现在那里的唯一原因是如果那里存在特定威胁需要他们在场，而不是出于恐吓目的，”穆林告诉议员们，“然后我们将与当地执法部门合作。我们会有理由在那里，并且会明确我们为何在那里。”
诺姆此前也曾向议员们给出类似的模糊回答，称国土安全部“没有计划”在投票地点派驻移民官员——同时也呼应了共和党人的常见攻击路线：如果非公民不应该投票，民主党人为何要反对附近的移民执法？
“参议员，您是否计划让非法移民在我们的选举中投票？”本月早些时候的一次听证会上，诺姆向一位民主党议员问道，“除非你们计划让非法移民投票，否则不应该有这种必要。”
研究和选举审计一贯发现，非公民投票极为罕见。然而，一些共和党议员仍对ICE出现在投票站的担忧进行反驳。
“为什么要禁止ICE出现在投票站？”共和党众议员杰森·史密斯（Jason Smith）上月表示，“因为在美国，非法移民不应该投票。”
“我们必须为最坏情况做准备”
投票权倡导者表示，这种威胁本身就可能阻止一些美国人投票——尤其是在移民社区——并指出ICE近期在明尼阿波利斯等地的行动中，联邦官员曾与美国公民及无证件移民发生冲突并进行拘留。
美国全国广播公司新闻（NBC News）最近的一项民意调查显示，38%的登记选民对ICE持正面看法，而56%的人持负面看法。
在幕后，州选举官员和投票权组织表示，他们正在制定应急计划——准备在发生部署时提起法庭诉讼，与当地执法部门协调，并培训投票站工作人员如何化解紧张局势。
几个由民主党主导的州正提前行动，禁止联邦移民探员进入投票站。新墨西哥州本月率先通过此类法律，禁止“美国海陆空三军现役、文职或军事服务人员”在提前投票开始后50英尺范围内出现在投票站或投票箱附近。
“我们必须为最坏情况做准备，”缅因州民主党州务卿申娜·贝洛斯（Shenna Bellows）对美国有线电视新闻网表示，“联邦法律、宪法和州法律都站在我们这边，我们将奋力保护选民权利和2026年选举的安全与公正。”
一些人认为，这种反复争论本身可能就是一种策略：即使ICE大规模出现在投票站的情况从未发生，这种讨论仍能通过制造恐慌并让选民待在家中而产生负面影响。
“我认为，有人试图利用ICE在投票站的言论煽动恐慌，”竞选法律中心（Campaign Legal Center）投票权与法治副主席丹妮尔·兰格（Danielle Lang）表示，“我只是希望选民们明白，没有理由相信选举当天会有执法人员在那里。法律并没有改变。”
这些威胁发生之际，特朗普政府正大力推动扩大联邦对选举的影响力。特朗普的盟友希望总统宣布与选举相关的国家紧急状态，并对2026年中期选举实施严格的联邦监督。
与此同时，司法部正在起诉20多个州，要求其移交未脱敏的选民数据——批评者称此举是联邦越权。特朗普政府官员表示，一些州已提交的选民名单显示，数十万份登记存在问题，但他们尚未公布数据或其他证据支持这一说法。
ICE agents have been deployed to airports. Are the polls next?
2026-03-25T09:00:33.876Z / CNN
The high-profile deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports has renewed support on the right and fear on the left about the possibility of ICE going to the polls in November.
Steve Bannon is urging President Donald Trump — who surprised officials in his own administration this weekend by ordering ICE agents to airports to help alleviate long lines — to treat that move as a dress rehearsal for the 2026 midterms, arguing the same armed officers should ultimately be positioned around polling places.
“We can use this as a test run — a test case — to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm election,” Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, said Monday on his “War Room” podcast, reiterating his past calls for a law enforcement presence at the polls.
While Bannon holds no official role in the administration, his remarks reignited concerns among some election officials and Democratic lawmakers who fear the Trump administration could try to use ICE as a political weapon — intimidating voters and potentially suppressing turnout in November. They argue that kind of presence at polling sites could run afoul of federal law.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, told CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday that the airport deployment fits what he sees as a broader strategy: using the military and federal law enforcement to help Trump hold power — including, potentially, during the midterms.
“These are all tools of how the president is trying to think about a much larger plan, which is, if you cannot hold onto power through democratic elections, then adjust democratic elections,” Moore told CNN.
Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said he’s brushing off Bannon’s comments until something “official” emerges. But he noted Republicans in Arizona’s state legislature recently proposed requiring federal immigration agents at every polling place, drop box and early voting site in 2026 — an idea that never advanced.
“It’s perfectly well acknowledged that ICE is not permitted in our polling places,” Fontes told CNN. “If there is overreach, we’re going to meet it with every lever of power that we have.”
Federal law bars deploying federal “troops or armed men” to polling places, except to repel “armed enemies of the United States.” Elections are run by states, despite Trump’s calls to “nationalize” voting in certain places.
“Sending ICE or any federal agents to interfere in elections or intimidate voters would be unlawful, and I am confident that courts would step in,” said Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice. “There’s certainly a reason to be worried when these outlandish threats are made. But there’s also a lot of reason to be calm.”
Administration pushback
Even as Bannon and other Trump allies escalate the rhetoric, some administration officials have dismissed the idea as a Democratic fever dream.
In a call with state election officials last month, Heather Honey — a longtime election skeptic who is now a senior election integrity official at the Department of Homeland Security — said the administration would not send ICE agents to polling places this year. A group of Democratic secretaries of state later pressed the administration for that pledge in writing.
But some Trump officials have avoided closing the door completely, suggesting federal agents could be deployed if there were an alleged threat at voting sites.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last month that it’s “not something I’ve ever heard the president consider,” adding, “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November. I mean, that’s frankly a very silly hypothetical question.”
At his confirmation hearing last week, Sen. Markwayne Mullin — who was sworn in Tuesday to replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — did not rule out the possibility.
“The only reason why my officers would be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation,” Mullin told lawmakers. “Then we will work with local law enforcement. There will be a reason for us to be there, and it’ll be known why we’re there.”
Noem previously offered similar noncommittal answers to lawmakers, saying DHS had “no plans” to station immigration officers at polling locations — while also echoing a common Republican line of attack: If noncitizens aren’t supposed to vote, why would Democrats object to immigration enforcement nearby?
“Do you plan on illegal aliens voting in our elections, senator?” Noem asked one Democratic lawmaker during a hearing earlier this month. “There should be no need to, unless you plan on illegals voting.”
Research and election audits have consistently found noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. Still, some Republican lawmakers have pushed back on the concerns about ICE at the polls.
“Why should you ban ICE from being at polling places?” GOP Rep. Jason Smith said last month. “Because illegals aren’t supposed to vote in this America.”
‘We have to prepare for the worst’
Voting rights advocates say that the threat alone could deter some Americans from voting — especially in immigrant communities — and point to recent ICE operations in places like Minneapolis where federal officers clashed with and detained US citizens as well as undocumented migrants.
A recent NBC News poll found 38% of registered voters view ICE positively, while 56% view it negatively.
Behind the scenes, state election officials and voting rights groups say they’re drawing up backup plans — prepping court challenges in case of deployments, coordinating with local law enforcement, and training poll workers on how to defuse tense situations.
Several Democrat-led states are moving to preemptively ban federal immigration agents from polling places. New Mexico became the first to enact such a law this month, barring armed officers “in the civil, military or naval service of the United States” from polling sites or within 50 feet of a ballot box from the start of early voting.
“We have to prepare for the worst,” Maine Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told CNN. “Federal law, the Constitution and state law are on our side, and we will fight to protect voters rights and a safe and secure election in 2026.”
Some argue the back-and-forth itself may be part of the strategy: even if a broad ICE presence at polling places never materializes, the talk of it can still do damage by sowing fear and keeping voters at home.
“I think that there is an attempt to use rhetoric around ICE at the polls to stoke fear,” said Danielle Lang, vice president for voting rights and rule of law at the Campaign Legal Center. “I just want voters to know there’s no reason to believe that there’s going to be law enforcement at the polls. The laws have not changed.”
These threats come amid a broader push by the administration to expand federal influence over elections. Trump allies are eager for the president to declare a national emergency tied to elections and impose strict federal oversight of the 2026 midterms.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, is suing more than two dozen states seeking their unredacted voter data — a move critics describe as federal overreach. Trump officials say voter lists already turned over by some states show hundreds of thousands of registrations that shouldn’t be on the rolls, but they have not released the data or other evidence to substantiate the claim.
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