ICE agents told to ‘be ready’ to protect federal property and quell protests on Election Day

• According to NBC News sources, ICE agents are being told to standby on and after Election Day along with other federal law enforcement agencies
• If mobilized, it would mark the first time ICE provides security detail at federal buildings on Election Day. Previously ICE agents have been mobilized only on inauguration days.
• Under President Trump’s June Executive Order targeted toward protesters, ICE, CBP and DHS could use expanded powers to send staff to federal properties.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have reportedly been told by the Department of Homeland security to remain on standby to protect federal property in Washington, DC, on or after Election Day, according to NBC News.

ICE has never been reported to provide security on Election Day, although the agency has provided extra security on inauguration days in the past. According to NBC News’s reporting, anonymous DHS and ICE officials said that the extra agents would be deployed due to the nationwide protests throughout 2020 and “attacks seen on federal property.”

In June, President Trump issued an executive order expanding powers for ICE, CBP, and Federal Protective Service, sending federal agents into Portland and other American cities. President Trump alleged the order was in response to “anarchists and left-wing extremists” damaging monuments and federal property. 

The Oregon Attorney General claimed that the arrests by federal agents were abductions and protesters’ rights were violated in a July lawsuit, referring partly to arrest scenes of federal agents throwing protesters in unmarked vans. The lawsuit for federal agents to identify themselves was rejected by a US District Judge. Ted Wheeler, Portland’s Mayor, called the federal agents “Trump’s personal army.”

The standoff in Portland lasted for two months, namely in front of the federal courthouse. 

In NBC News’s reporting, a CBP spokesperson added that “under the DHS Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT), CBP will continue to provide support, as requested, to the Federal Protective Service to protect Federal facilities and property if needed and to local law enforcement partners if requested.”

Additionally, DHS spokesperson Chase Jennings said that the agency is “fully prepared” but that DHS’s jurisdiction covers only federal property.

Representatives for ICE did not immediately respond to comment for this story.