Crowdsourced services and local response groups reported little ICE activity on Election Day, though their accounts do not establish how much enforcement occurred nationwide. AntiFreeze creator Josh told The Intercept that the service received about 56 sightings across the country, roughly three of them near polling places, and few reports of arrests.
Monitoring groups reported a subdued day
Sherman Austin, who created StopICE, told The Intercept that the day had the lowest ICE ERO activity he had observed that year. He said the service received some reports, but most described sightings not tied to immigration enforcement. Austin also said the usual increase in activity reports between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. was absent.
Local accounts reported a similar lull. A Twin Cities rapid-response activist told The Intercept the group had heard of arrests at jails but had no reports of street detentions or attempted detentions; the activist said more observers than usual were out monitoring. In Southern California, Leo Martinez of VC Defensa told the outlet that his group received no ICE activity sightings that day.
Reports of enforcement activity had risen before the vote
The Election Day reports came after accounts of increased activity during October. NPR and its member stations received reports of enforcement surges in rural Illinois, Oregon, Detroit and California. Separately, Politico reported that DHS agents had carried out street-level operations in nine states targeting people officials said had voted or registered illegally. A federal judge had blocked the Unlawful Voter Initiative, and a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel signaled it was unlikely to allow the enforcement effort to resume.
Officials described informal instructions, with no clear author
ICE officials in four areas of responsibility told The Intercept they had been instructed to pause enforcement operations on Election Day. According to the outlet, the directions began circulating on Monday within the Enforcement and Removal Operations division through verbal instructions and internal group chats, rather than a formal notice.
The officials’ accounts, as reported by The Intercept, did not establish who authorized the pause. Some believed it came from ERO leadership, and one connected the decision to concern about ICE activity near polling places. Another said the White House was unaware the instructions had been issued. The outlet also reported that officials believed the directions were conveyed discreetly to avoid media attention; its account does not resolve the differing explanations.
