Fetterman joins Democratic offensive against DHS to prevent immigration agents from interfering in midterm elections

Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman joined 33 other senators from his party on Monday to urge Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to ensure that immigration enforcement agents do not interfere with voting during the upcoming midterm elections.

In a letter addressed to Mullin, the lawmakers expressed concern over what they described as efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to undermine the authority of Congress and state governments over elections. The lawmakers specifically questioned Mullin's refusal to "publicly affirm" that he would refrain from deploying agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at polling places.

The lawmakers' concerns arose after Mullin suggested earlier this month that DHS might send ICE agents to polling places to "address specific threats." Mullin stated that agents would only be deployed if a polling place faced a threat or if they needed to execute an arrest warrant against someone they were actively pursuing.

"We write to warn you against continued activities at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that seek to undermine the constitutional authority of both Congress and states to administer elections and defy the directions of federal courts," the senators wrote.

In the letter, the lawmakers noted that Mullin initially claimed that 16,000 people who were not U.S. citizens had allegedly registered to vote illegally in Nevada. Subsequently, other Department of Homeland Security officials reviewed that figure and reduced it to 185. The senators demanded that the aforementioned actions be halted and that the data supporting the July 17, 2026, statement be provided.

DHS has defended its citizenship verification program as a measure to protect electoral integrity. The department stated that the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the administration to continue the program while legal challenges against it are pending. DHS has also recently announced several criminal cases involving non-U.S. citizens accused of voting illegally.