According to reports, armed agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been knocking on doors in different parts of the country and questioning residents about their immigration status and eligibility to vote. This has sparked accusations of voter intimidation and fear among New Yorkers that these practices will soon reach their neighborhoods.
The DHS assures that it is investigating cases of electoral fraud ahead of the midterm elections. In a statement on October 23, the federal agency reported that it arrested ten Green Card residents in North Carolina and one person it described as an undocumented immigrant, accused of impersonating US citizens and voting in previous elections in that state.
On October 22, the US Department of Justice posted on its X account that it had arrested a Syracuse woman for voting in Senate and House races.
This news comes as allegations circulate that armed federal agents are knocking on doors and questioning residents about their immigration status and voting rights. Although DHS maintains that hundreds of thousands of illegal votes have been cast, a CBS News report indicates that fewer than 200 people have been charged with crimes related to voter fraud since the start of the Trump Administration, in a country with 227 million registered voters.
In a context of growing fear of immigration operations and with a midterm election that is shaping up to be especially divisive, immigrant advocates fear that door-to-door visits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will soon become a reality in New York, with the purpose of intimidating even those who have the right to vote.
Daniel Coates, co-director of Make the Road Action in New York, told our sister publication, amNewYork, that he believes these investigations are not intended to combat criminal activity, but rather to intimidate voters.
“Study after study confirms that the number of non-citizens who vote in elections is tiny. It’s not a problem. This new tactic is another desperate attempt to use fear to suppress voting in immigrant communities by an administration hell-bent on clinging to power,” Coates said.
“We see what you are doing and we will not be intimidated. With less than two weeks until the midterm elections, we are reaching out to voters across New York State to make sure they understand what is at stake, know their rights and have the necessary tools before they go to the polls. The right to vote is sacred, and our communities are prepared to exercise and defend it,” he added.
New York City Ombudsman Jumaane Williams told amNewYork that he shares Coates’ assessment. Williams went further and stated that he expects acts of intimidation to increase as November 3 approaches.
“Of course it’s election intimidation. They want to illegally intimidate voters. I would bet money that there will be armed ICE agents at polling places across the country. I fully expect that, and we are asking people to have courage in the midst of fear and perseverance to follow through and make sure their vote is counted,” Williams said.
“We’ve seen people get shot inside their own homes, so we’ve been warning for quite some time that this was going to be a problem,” he added.
These concerns come as ICE operations have ramped up significantly in the city’s five boroughs over the past few months. Earlier this month, Brooklyn residents reported that ICE agents posed as New York Police Department (NYPD) officers to enter an apartment building and detain a Haitian immigrant.
On October 8, federal agents shot a suspected gang member who had his 5-year-old son in the car in broad daylight.
Despite the controversy, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin maintains that the measures against electoral fraud seek to enforce the law.
“They knowingly violated our laws. Now, thanks to the committed patriots at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and our partners at the Department of Justice, these foreigners will be held accountable for violating Americans’ sacred right to elect their own leaders. Let this serve as a warning to any non-citizens thinking about voting in our elections: If you vote illegally, we will arrest you and bring charges against you. Only American citizens should elect America’s leaders,” Mullin stated.
For their part, civil rights organizations, such as Hands Off NYC, described the strategy of going door-to-door as a form of authoritarianism and the use of the government as a political weapon.
“When news breaks that federal agents are going door-to-door on the eve of our elections, the goal is not electoral security, but rather resorting to authoritarian tactics to sow fear,” says part of a statement from Rebecca Rodríguez, co-director of Hands Off NYC.
“The Trump Administration has attempted to weaponize all powers of government to intimidate the opposition, sow fear in our communities, and make desperate attempts to concentrate even more power. They will not succeed,” he concluded.
