Some federal immigration officers across the country were instructed to take a lighter approach to arrests during Election Day on Tuesday, three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources told The Daily Wire.
The sources said the orders were not formally written, but were given verbally.
One ICE source described Tuesday as “an easy day” for officers, saying they were told not to arrest illegal immigrants on the streets, but rather to pick up only those being transferred from local jails.
Another said they were told to temporarily halt vehicle stops, a move the agency employed briefly in July following officer-involved shootings in Texas and Maine.
“They said no lights or vehicle stops,” one agency source said, adding that they were still making arrests Tuesday of illegal immigrants they could catch exiting their vehicles.
Many immigration enforcement policy decisions under President Donald Trump have been motivated by optics, a source said, expressing frustration with the political whiplash.
“I wish they would stay on it. It’s all political, but I get why they say rest because some guys are wild. They don’t want anything that would look bad, like another agent hitting someone with their car,” the source said.
In a statement to The Daily Wire, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said the agency “enforces the laws of the nation across the country … every single day,” including on Election Day. The spokesperson also shared the names and rap sheets of five criminal illegal immigrants ICE arrested on Tuesday.
The list included Mexican illegal immigrant Jaime Ramirez-Almaraz, who had convictions for burglary and aggravated assault with a weapon. ICE nabbed him in Salt Lake City.
ICE agents in Miami also arrested Jesus Moreno-Lucio, of Mexico, who had a previous conviction for attempted murder and aggravated battery in Naples, Florida.
Down in New Orleans, ICE officers took Mexican national Daniel Martinez-Guerrero, who had convictions for aggravated assault with a weapon in Nashville, Tennessee, into custody.
In Newark, the agency nabbed Ezequiel Mendez-Mendez, a Mexican man with a prior conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing bodily injury.
ICE agents in St. Paul, Minnesota, also arrested Guatemalan illegal immigrant Kevin Ramirez-Gomez, who was convicted of child molestation.
“365 days per year, the hardworking men and women of ICE law enforcement are targeting and arresting criminal illegal aliens to make America safe again — this includes on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and yes, Election Day,” the spokesperson said.
An agency source said the motivation for the Election Day orders was politics.
“We don’t want to give the left any reason or idea that we’re interfering somehow or intimidating people on Election Day.”
On Tuesday, ICE posted a warning on X to those voting illegally in the election.
“We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape,” the agency wrote.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) responded to the post, threatening to arrest any ICE agents who showed up to the polls.
If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 3, 2026
“If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape,” Newsom wrote.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that ICE was not sent to guard the polls.
“We didn’t,” Mullin said. “That’s your guys that’s saying that. We’ve never said that.”
“If there was threats that would be different,” he said.
In September, Mullin said that if ICE showed up to the polls it would be “if there is a threat … or we’re serving a warrant on someone that we have been actively tracking down.”
“ICE’s job is immigration, customs enforcement. That’s their job … if we’re serving a warrant we will be where we need to be,” he said at the time.
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