Trump Is Planning to Deploy ICE to Suppress Protests on Election Day

ICE will be on call on Election Day in the nation’s capital should there be any unruly people around the White House.

It is uncertain how the presidential race will go, but if there’s any unrest on the streets of Washington DC, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be there.

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According to two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, ICE will be on call should people protest Election Day in the nation’s capital, NBC News reports. 

“As a law enforcement component 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,” a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection told the news outlet. 

The Trump administration could be anticipating protesters around the White House as they did in June when police tear-gassed people in order for the president to pose in front of a church. A couple of days after that photo-op, a wall was constructed around the White House to prevent people from getting too close. The White House is doing the same as they prepare for Election Day. 

“The White House on lockdown: A federal law enforcement source tells NBC that beginning tomorrow, crews will build a ‘non-scalable’ fence to secure the WH complex, Ellipse and Lafayette Square,” journalist Geoff Bennett tweeted. “250 National Guardsmen have been put on standby, reporting to Metro Police officials.”

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President Donald Trump continues to change his plans about where he will be on election night as the results come in. According to The New York Times, Trump wanted to make an appearance at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. However, it looks as if the president will remain in the White House instead. Now the New York Post reports that the president will host a party for 400 people in the East Room of the White House. 

Whatever the president plans to do, the White House—and the surrounding area—will be quite a spectacle regardless of the results. And as Trump has already said many times, he won’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power, saying, “There won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.”

If there are protesters in DC, ICE only has the authority to protect federal buildings. 

Chase Jennings, a DHS spokesperson, told NBC News that the agency is “fully prepared regarding election night safety and security.” However, “to be clear, the Department of Homeland Security has limited authorities regarding physical security—our jurisdiction covers only federal property.”