League of United Latin American Citizens v. Department of Homeland Security

Under a new policy, the Trump administration is threatening to send armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to polling places to serve warrants or conduct other enforcement activity during the 2026 election season.

September 10, 2026: Denver, Colorado filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unlawful policy. The other parties in the case are the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Common Cause, and UnidosUS. Public Rights Project and Democracy Forward are serving as co-counsel.

The policy directly violates a 150-year-old federal law prohibiting anyone from sending armed federal personnel to polling places. Such actions interfere with state and local election administration. 

According to Colorado’s state election code, only election officials, authorized election observers, and voters are permitted within polling places. Any effort by federal agents to enter these areas would breach election security requirements and potentially disrupt election officials’ ability to conduct the election.

Additionally, the presence of armed officers at polling places or 24-hour drop boxes is likely to intimidate voters. We have seen the chaos and fear that ICE activity in our communities has already caused. This should not be replicated at the polls. Because of this unlawful policy, election officials will be forced to spend significant time, energy, and resources preparing for potential ICE activity during the election and ensuring voters are not disenfranchised.

Eligible voters should not have to fear interrogation, detention, or family separation simply for casting a ballot or helping their neighbor do so. 

Read the lawsuit.

October 7, 2026: We filed an amended complaint expanding our challenge to unlawful federal policies that allow agents at polling places. Hennepin County, Minnesota, has joined the case as a plaintiff with Public Rights Project and Democracy Forward serving as its co-counsel. Hennepin County’s experience brings an especially important local perspective to the case, including on how heightened federal immigration enforcement impacted residents during Operation Metro Surge.

Both DHS and the Department of Justice have asserted that armed agents are authorized to go to polling places for routine enforcement. But, the law allows armed federal forces at the polls only to “repel armed enemies” of the United States. Routine enforcement doesn’t meet that definition.

The stakes have risen since we filed the original lawsuit. As the midterm elections approach, the federal government has made statements pointing to a possible FBI presence at polling places. This is particularly intimidating to naturalized citizens, citizens in mixed-status families, citizens perceived to be foreign-born, and election workers. For these people, being at the polls could mean being questioned, detained, or separated from their families.

The amended complaint adds a claim under the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits intimidation, threats, and coercion of voters and those who help them vote. 

We’re asking the court to enforce the law and ensure that voters can participate in the 2026 midterm elections freely and without intimidation.

Read the amended complaint.