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State and local election officials nationwide predict a safe and secure Election Day. The Trump administration has said it has no plans to deploy immigration agents or the military to polling sites, something prohibited under federal law. But voting rights and immigration advocates have been preparing anyway. NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports from Texas.
SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN, BYLINE: The worst-case scenario is the potential deployment of federal forces to the polls. Such an action is not legal, but the Trump administration is unpredictable and has repeatedly tested democratic norms. So immigrant rights groups over the last few months have been preparing for any eventuality.
KARIME RODRIGUEZ: We have to respond in numbers, and we have to respond through people. That is the only response, regardless of what is thrown at us.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Karime Rodriguez is an organizer with Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA. The Phoenix-based organization has trained more than a hundred community members to serve as constitutional observers outside Phoenix metro polling sites. Their job is to report any irregularities, including the potential presence of federal agents.
RODRIGUEZ: It might not be that ICE will be at the polls on Election Day. But just their presence around communities, the increased policing, is enough to keep somebody away.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: The Trump administration has surged federal immigration agents across the country for nearly two years. And large enforcement actions in Chicago, Minneapolis and elsewhere have sparked clashes and the deaths of several U.S. citizens and immigrants. Trump officials say there are no plans to send troops or immigration agents to the polls. Still, citizens and noncitizens alike could be intimidated by the ongoing ICE and National Guard presence in some neighborhoods across the country. Misinformation could play a role as well.
Justin Levitt is a voting law expert at Loyola Marymount University.
JUSTIN LEVITT: I do think, not least in part because of this electric anxiety, there will be a viral video clip on Election Day of ICE at the polls or the military at the polls. It may or may not be real. It might have no relationship whatsoever to reality on the ground.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: So Levitt and others say, this Election Day, the public must verify any information before sharing it with others.
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR News, Austin, Texas. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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