Panel: Could ICE agents deploy to polls for midterm elections?

[0:00] This week, some of America's airports were in chaos. Ice did show up after weeks of a DHS [0:08] shutdown to try and deal with these lines, at least try to help in some way, but the lines [0:13] kept growing. TSA agents kept disappearing. Congress kept dragging its feet on a deal [0:18] before the president declared an emergency and ordered those agents get paid. He ordered ice [0:23] agents into the airports. They started small, handing out water, helping with crowd control, [0:28] but now we're told they're taking a more active role in security. That includes [0:32] verifying IDs, which according to one MAGA ally, could be a test run for the midterms. [0:41] Then I'll let him explain. We can use what's happening with these ice helping out at the [0:48] airports. We can use this as a test run, as a test case to get really perfect ice's involvement in [0:54] the 2026 midterm election, sir. Yeah, I think we should have ice agents at the polling [1:00] table. I think we should have ice agents at the polling table. I think we should have ice agents [1:00] at the polling places. I think it's perfect training for the fall of 2026. Look what [1:04] happened. They've moved everybody along. People get there quick. They vote quick. [1:08] Maybe every now and again, they pull somebody's line. Hey, yo, ID, got an ID? [1:14] Essie, is this a good idea to have ice there checking IDs or standing there armed as people [1:20] are trying to vote? First of all, there's no need for that. Our elections in 2024 and 2020 and 2016 [1:26] were fine. They were secure. They were free and fair. To the stupidity of, imagine you're a [1:32] TSA agent. You haven't been paid. You haven't been paid because of ice. You're working and the [1:38] guy behind you, the ice agent, is watching you work. He's getting paid and you're not. The stupidity [1:43] of this, I couldn't imagine the indignity of being a TSA worker right now with ice watching you do [1:50] your job. They're getting paid. You're not. But the biggest, the big picture problem with this is [1:55] we should not want a militarized United States with our streets militarized, our voting militarized, [2:02] our airports militarized. [2:03] I am so concerned about the North Korea coded stuff that is going on right now. From Pam Bondi [2:12] unfurling a banner with Trump's face on it on the DOJ building, to Trump putting his signature on [2:18] our currency and his name on the Kennedy Center, to inviting only friendly media outlets who are [2:24] going to say exactly what you want into Pentagon briefings. I mean, it goes on and on and on. [2:29] When did we want to become North Korea? This should be, [2:34] let's make doing thing. [2:35] I mean, this is, this is unnerving, disturbing to everyone. [2:41] This is not partisan. This is scary stuff. So it can feel like a slow creep and MAGA will justify it [2:48] using Trump's lie about the election. But look around. Look around at your country, people. Is this [2:55] what you want? You want to walk down the street and see, you know, rifles, guys with guns patrolling because, for no reason at all, just to intimidate you? Is that what you want? You want to walk around into a district? [3:04] and see the president's face on the Department of Justice, [3:08] which is a separate but co-equal branch of government, it's bananas. [3:12] I think there are people who do. [3:14] Clearly, there are people who do. [3:15] I mean, based on the fact alone, and I'm not talking even about the voting numbers, [3:19] right around the election time, there was a poll that came out, [3:22] and it listed what are authoritarian actions when it comes to criminalization, [3:28] arresting people, people at the border, how rights should work. [3:31] And 40% of Americans picked the actions that are considered authoritarian, right? [3:37] There's a strain in our country that wants to feel powerful and strong with a gun [3:42] because they assume it's not going to be directed at them. [3:44] And that's what I think is a dangerous part. [3:46] They are happy with the, they have all the right enemies. [3:49] So they're Team MAGA because MAGA has all the right enemies. [3:52] But it's not just going to be trained on your enemies. [3:56] At some point, it's going to come back on you. [3:59] And that's what people don't realize about the slip. [4:01] Let's just get to it. [4:01] Let's get back down to earth. [4:03] The North Korea comparison is a little extreme, [4:06] considering 80 plus percent of Americans say, yes, you should have IDs at the poll site. [4:10] Which obviously means that someone should be checking your IDs. [4:14] But you know what does have something to do with ICE? [4:15] You mentioned armed guys at polls. [4:17] You know what happens every single year? [4:19] You mentioned the 2016 election, 2020, 2024. [4:21] There are armed guys at every poll. [4:23] They're called police officers. [4:24] They're in every single poll site here in New York City. [4:26] And that's their job and what they're trained to do. [4:29] ICE is customs and punishment. [4:31] I'm not finished. [4:31] They have no business there. [4:33] What point stipulated? [4:34] You know that. [4:34] You know that. [4:35] Steve Bannon is a provocateur, right? [4:37] He's doing what he's doing because we talk about crazy stuff he says on CNN and then more people watch his show. [4:42] That's why he does this. [4:43] However, the idea of voter ID and someone checking that ID is still wildly popular with Americans. [4:50] It's a straw man. [4:51] You can have that without ICE. [4:52] You know that. [4:52] One more mistake you made. [4:54] You said that TSA agent is mad at ICE because ICE is getting paid. [4:57] No, they should be mad at Democrats for dropping funding and causing this crisis. [5:01] Oh, they are. [5:01] They're not mad at ICE. [5:02] They're annoyed that ICE is getting paid to watch them do the job. [5:04] I should buy them coffee. [5:05] They're not getting paid for it. [5:06] If you're in the airport, you're an ICE agent, you should buy your TSA college. [5:09] That's really going to solve everything. [5:11] That's what they want. [5:12] Free coffee. [5:13] Come on. [5:13] Wait a minute. [5:13] Let's be clear that TSA isn't just mad at Democrats. [5:16] They are mad at Democrats. [5:17] They are mad at Republicans. [5:18] They are mad at Trump. [5:19] And they should be. [5:19] And we're also hearing from people in lines every single day. [5:22] One of our reporters in Atlanta, which is the busiest airport in the world, Ryan Young, [5:26] has been talking to people every day. [5:28] And every day, they're just mad at Congress. [5:31] The president, they just want this fixed. [5:34] When a party causes a shutdown, we typically blame that party for doing that. [5:38] This is a Democrat. [5:39] This is the second time in the Trump presidency. [5:40] What I'm telling you is that's not how people are seeing it. [5:43] I'm not saying that. [5:44] It's not even true. [5:45] Okay, so you know what people are clearly seeing? [5:48] $550 million a day. [5:52] Right? [5:52] Oh, that's actually even worse. [5:54] $550 million is a social media number of what they make a day. [5:57] The billions of dollars a day it is costing in Iraq. [6:00] Like, how quickly? [6:01] That's what I'm saying. [6:01] That's what I'm saying. [6:01] Oh, we have money for war when we... [6:03] Wait, are you happy Trump's paying her? [6:04] Are you happy President Trump signed the executive order? [6:07] Is that a good thing? [6:08] I think that's a great thing. [6:08] All right, good. [6:09] And you know what? [6:09] Because that's actually Trump recognizing that this is going to be a pain point for him. [6:14] The fact that 400 TSA agents have quit, that this is a huge customer service, like, American [6:19] pocketbook issue. [6:20] When people like you and me are making decisions to drive 11 or 15 hours rather than take the [6:24] flights that we scheduled for our families, that's real. [6:27] And paid for. [6:27] Right, and paid for. [6:28] First, ICE at the airport, one thing we learned in the giant, giant, giant, giant, giant [6:31] ramp up of ICE personnel is the training was lacking. [6:34] And that's not just liberals saying that. [6:36] Law enforcement that worked with them were saying, these guys are amateurs and they need [6:40] more training at their jobs. [6:43] These aren't even their jobs. [6:44] And so we're asking them to do this. [6:46] And about them at the ballot box, I covered an election in Russia once. [6:52] And there were armed guards at every election station. [6:56] And they were watching everybody come in and made sure who everybody voted. [7:00] I don't want to live in that. [7:02] I don't want to live in that country. [7:03] And I don't think most Americans. [7:04] Do you live in New York, Terry? [7:05] Okay. [7:06] No, I'm carrying the police. [7:07] They were local police. [7:08] These were federal soldiers. [7:09] If you ask a local Democrat here, one of the Mamdani coalitions, they'll tell you that [7:13] NYPD is ICE and fascists and dictators. [7:15] I'm not saying that. [7:16] I'm just saying. [7:17] I'm not saying that. [7:18] Straw man. [7:19] You don't even have to bother. [7:20] I'm not saying that. [7:21] I'm not talking about community. [7:22] That's not a real argument. [7:23] It is a real argument. [7:24] It's not. [7:25] I'm not talking about community. [7:26] So one guy with ICE is different. [7:27] Yes. [7:28] Federal government. [7:29] The entire U.S. national security structure is built on that difference. [7:30] If you're a U.S. intelligence agent, there's 40,000 polling sites. [7:33] As a Republican, you want the federal government to send federal law enforcement agents or [7:37] troops, as has been suggested, to the states to govern their elections. [7:42] Personally, no. [7:43] That is like Putin's Russia. [7:44] I will continue. [7:45] Personally, there isn't enough. [7:46] There isn't enough. [7:47] There's more. [7:48] There's more NYPD officers alone than the FBI. [7:49] Right? [7:50] And they're the largest federal law enforcement agency. [7:51] So it's not going to happen. [7:53] This is why this is a Steve Bannon exercise in getting us to talk about him so more people [7:57] listen to him. [7:58] Hold on. [7:59] Hold on a second. [8:00] I'm not the only one saying it. [8:01] DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen did not rule out sending ICE to the polls. [8:06] Let's let you listen to what he said. [8:09] The only reason why my officers would be there if there was a specific threat for them to [8:13] be there, not for intimidation, then we will work with local law enforcement. [8:17] There'll be a reason for us to be there, and it'll be known why we're there. [8:22] So he's not ruling it out. [8:24] He's saying if there's a threat, I mean, a threat could be a lot of different things. [8:28] And I guess the question is, why ICE? [8:31] That's a thing different than... [8:32] Why ICE? [8:33] ...what Steve Bannon was saying on a radio show. [8:34] It is. [8:35] It is different. [8:36] That's a large difference, right? [8:37] But why ICE? [8:38] Why use ICE? [8:39] There are other agencies that could be used, not that anyone wants to see people with guns [8:45] just standing there, watching you go in and out. [8:47] Play out Mark Wayne Mullen's theory. [8:51] If there is a reason, meaning someone called, there's some illegal immigrant present at [8:55] a polling site and they get a call for that, why is it a problem that ICE show up there? [8:59] To use his own... [9:01] To use his own format of what he's saying. [9:03] To use his own format of what he's saying would be the conditions of ICE going to a [9:04] polling site. [9:05] Why is that wrong? [9:06] I don't think that was his condition. [9:07] Yeah, I don't think that was his condition. [9:08] He said if there is a specific reason for us to be there, a threat or a reason, obviously [9:12] this is what ICE does. [9:13] ICE goes after people who are here illegally. [9:15] If they have some issue related to their course of business, why would we not want them to [9:20] poll sites? [9:21] I am haunted by a memory, okay, of December 2020 in the Oval Office when Donald Trump [9:26] demanded that the military, the National Guard, be called out in each of the seven swing states [9:31] that he had lost. [9:33] And supervise a re-election, hold an election again under, like Putin's Russia, the eyes [9:39] of federal troops. [9:41] That's in him. [9:42] And anybody who pretends that's not in him doesn't know him. [9:45] All right, we're going to leave it there.