The County Board of Arlington County sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the Department of Justice, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and their heads on 20 October1. Filed in the federal court for eastern Virginia, the complaint argues that federal "Polling Place Policies" breach Section 592 of Title 18 of the United States Code (18 USC 592), a federal criminal statute. That 1865 law, passed in the last months of the Civil War, bars "troops or armed men" at the place of an election unless needed "to repel the armed enemies of the United States". Judge Leonie Brinkema has the case2.
The county cites remarks by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin on 1 September, which it reads as confirming that DHS policy lets armed ICE officers go to polling places for civil immigration enforcement. That means action over a person's immigration status, handled outside the criminal courts. It also cites FBI Director Kash Patel at a Senate Judiciary hearing, where he spoke under oath. Asked, "Wait, I thought you weren't going to be sending people to the polls?", he replied, "When did you hear that? It's just another lie."3 The county reads that as a claim of authority to send armed agents.
Arlington wants armed federal staff kept from its polling sites, early-voting sites, drop boxes and curbside voting. Virginians have been voting in person since 18 September. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sued the Trump administration over ICE at polling places in September. Arlington's is the first such suit by a local government that Lowdown has found.
