They Trained to Protect Immigrants From ICE. Now They’re Prepping to Defend the Midterm Elections.

Volunteers from the ICE Watch movement, which once trained to protect immigrants from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are now preparing to defend against a new threat: election interference from the Trump administration. Zach Mueller, the anti-authoritarian group States at the Core’s co-founder, said that these once "in the normal cast of characters that have been showing up to rallies" have now become "trained and committed members of an 'ICE Watch' movement."

Despite a temporary victory in blocking a Trump administration rule that would have restricted the U.S. Postal Service from delivering ballots from certain states, other electoral threats remain. Federal agents intimidating legal observers at their homes, and the possibility of federal interference at polling places, remain on the table. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has suggested that immigration agents could be deployed at polling sites if there is "a threat" or serving a warrant.

Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, a group that co-sponsors "No Kings protests," said they have expanded their trainings to include election protection known as "Beyond ICE Watch." He warned that federal interference at the polls is illegal and emphasized that it is everyday people who have made a difference in resisting authoritarianism.

As election intimidation becomes a new factor in the upcoming midterm elections, organizations like the Save America Movement and the NAACP are preparing to deploy strategies to protect voters. Rev. Al Sharpton and Randi Weingarten, a labor leader, are collaborating to send volunteers trained in deescalation, documentation, and local voting laws to precincts with large minority and immigrant populations.

The NAACP, familiar with voter intimidation tactics, is prepared to defend democracy and ensure voters have access to the ballot box.