A coalition of nine civil rights organizations, labor unions and immigrant-advocacy groups sued the Trump administration in federal court in Washington on Friday, seeking a court order barring immigration agents and other armed federal officers from operating at or near polling places during the November midterms.

The suit, filed on behalf of the NAACP, Mi Familia en Acción, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, the National Urban League and four national unions, argues that repeated suggestions from administration officials that federal agents could be deployed to polling sites amount to illegal voter intimidation under Section 11(b) of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It is the second such lawsuit filed in the past week; a separate suit brought by Denver's clerk and recorder, Paul López, alongside civil rights groups and Democracy Forward attorneys, invokes a Civil War-era statute that bars armed federal personnel from polling places outright.

The complaint contends that months of immigration-enforcement surges that "targeted and terrorized communities with large Black, Latino and Asian populations" have combined with administration rhetoric to produce, in the plaintiffs' words, a climate in which voters of color are "intimidated and fearful of engaging in the democratic process." According to a report on the lawsuits from NPR, a UC San Diego poll conducted this month found 40% of voters now believe it is likely ICE agents will show up at their local voting location.

Officials on both sides push back

Janai Nelson, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, one of the legal groups behind the suit, said in a statement that "using federal law enforcement as a scare tactic to target and intimidate Black communities is illegal." National Urban League president Marc Morial added that "voter intimidation is illegal, whether from a mob or the federal government itself."

"EVERY SINGLE MEETING I HAVE, THERE'S SOMEBODY THAT ASKS THE QUESTION: 'WHAT CAN WE DO IF FEDERAL AGENTS ARE AT THE POLLS?'" — Paul López, Denver clerk and recorder and plaintiff in the companion lawsuit

The Department of Homeland Security said in response that ICE "is not planning operations targeting polling locations," while adding that agents could still make arrests near a polling site if there were an "active public safety threat." The White House said it has "repeatedly addressed the issue" and that the president has not discussed plans for ICE to be present at polls. The pushback comes despite past comments from administration figures fueling the concern: Trump said in May he would do "anything necessary" to ensure "honest" elections, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said agents could serve warrants at polling sites, and FBI Director Kash Patel has declined to rule out bureau agents being present.

Plaintiffs point to scattered reports of federal law-enforcement activity near polling sites during this year's primaries in states including Texas, New York and California as evidence the threat is not hypothetical. Both lawsuits ask judges to issue orders barring the practice well before Election Day on November 3, when control of the House and Senate is on the line. Neither case has yet been assigned a hearing date, but voting-rights groups and local election officials say they are drafting contingency plans, including rapid-response legal teams, in case federal agents appear at polling places regardless of how the litigation proceeds.