Democracy Docket
March 23, 2026
Steve Bannon suggested that President Donald Trump deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to major U.S. airports as part of a “test run” for using them to meddle in upcoming elections.
“We can use this as a test run, as a test case, to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterms,” Bannon, a close Trump ally, said on his War Room podcast Monday.
Last month, Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist during the opening months of Trump’s first term and who remains an influential figure in the current administration, urged the president to send immigration officers to voting sites during this year’s midterms.
He baselessly claimed that the tactic would prevent Democrats from “stealing” elections. In reality, the move is clearly meant to intimidate voters and poll workers and artificially influence election outcomes.
The White House and leaders of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, have never definitively ruled out the tactic, even though federal law expressly bars the stationing of law enforcement officers or members of the military at polling places.
Over the weekend, Trump abruptly announced that he ordered ICE agents to major U.S. airports to assist the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) amid a funding lapse for most of DHS.
The snap decision not only demonstrated Trump’s urge to command ICE as his personal law enforcement agency but also his willingness to deploy its officers into abnormal situations for which they have not received training.
Senior Trump officials said ICE agents would not be directly assisting TSA agents with screening passengers but would instead be guarding exit lanes or checking passenger IDs.
Bannon’s new suggestion, which he said he was making to “blow up mainstream media’s head today,” came as he was interviewing Mike Davis, a far-right lawyer assisting with Trump’s effort to fill the judiciary with unquestioning loyalists.
Davis said he agreed with Bannon’s proposal, saying, “I think we should have ICE agents at the polling place because if you’re an illegal alien, you can’t vote.
“It’s against the law. It’s a federal crime for you to vote in federal elections. And so if you’re an American citizen, you should be happy that ICE is there, because you’re not going to have illegal aliens cancelling out your vote,” Davis added.
Neither Bannon nor Davis noted that noncitizens fraudulently voting is virtually nonexistent. Numerous studies and voter roll audits have shown that vanishingly few noncitizens attempt to register, and fewer still try to vote.
Later in the episode, Bannon moved beyond suggesting and definitely stated that ICE would be at the polls come November.
“They’re trained to, wait for it, check IDs,” Bannon said. “That’s why it’s perfect training for the fall of 2026. This is why it’s such a brilliant — this is another 5D chess move from President Trump.”
“That’s what’s going to happen in the fall of 2026. Because, folks, we’re tired of having elections stolen. ICE is going to be there in the fall of ‘26, just like they’re in airports today. So, from the War Room, suck on that!” he added.
Trump Monday said that if ICE agents were not “enough” to bring down security wait times in airports, he would next “bring in the National Guard.”
Earlier this year, Trump said he regretted not ordering the National Guard to seize ballot boxes as part of his attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, which he has repeatedly falsely claimed was stolen from him.