Signal Denver, Latino civil rights groups sue to block armed ICE at polling places

Summary

The League of United Latin American Citizens, Common Cause, UnidosUS, and the city of Denver filed a federal lawsuit on September 10, 2026, against the Trump-Vance administration over a Department of Homeland Security policy permitting armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to enter polling places to conduct immigration enforcement during the 2026 midterm elections. The suit invokes 18 U.S.C. § 592, a Civil War-era law prohibiting armed federal personnel from patrolling voting sites. Plaintiffs cite a May incident in San Antonio, where armed agents detained a person near a polling site, and a June incident in Syracuse, where ICE agents entered a polling site to question an election volunteer. The policy was confirmed and clarified by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on September 1, 2026. The case sets up an early legal test of immigration enforcement infrastructure colliding with election administration ahead of the midterms.