Says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “will be at every polling station” on Nov. 3, 2020.
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ICE says it’s not patrolling polling locations on Election Day
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- ICE says it doesn’t "patrol or conduct law enforcement operations at polling locations."
On Nov. 3, 2020, Americans will head to the polls to cast a ballot in the general presidential election. But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents won’t, the federal agency says.
A recent Facebook post claims otherwise.
"Spread this like wildfire," the Feb. 10, 2020, post says. "I.C.E. will be at every polling station on Nov 3rd 2020."
Maybe don’t spread this like wildfire. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
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In a statement, ICE told PolitiFact that "ICE does not patrol or conduct enforcement operations at polling locations. Any flyers or advertisements claiming otherwise are false."
Between fears that undocumented immigrants are illegally voting in elections — and we’ve debunked many such claims — and widespread news coverage about ICE raids, plans for the agency to be posted up at every polling location on Nov. 3 would draw media attention. But we could find no reporting on the unsubstantiated claim in the Facebook post.
We rate it False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, Feb. 10, 2020
PolitiFact, No evidence ‘many’ illegal immigrants voted in midterm elections, as Lou Dobbs said, Nov. 16, 2018
PolitiFact, Conservative activists promote misleading, ‘undercover’ video about voter fraud, Feb. 6, 2020
PolitiFact, Fact-check: Did 3 million undocumented immigrants vote in this year’s election? Nov. 18, 2016
CNN, Their first day of school turned into a nightmare after record immigration raids, August 2018
New York Times, ICE arrests hundreds in Mississippi raids targeting immigrant workers, Aug. 7, 2019
Washington Post, ICE agents raid Miss. work sites…, Aug. 7, 2019
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ICE says it’s not patrolling polling locations on Election Day
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