40% of people are concerned that ICE immigration enforcement will be at polling places in their area.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The NPR Politics PodcastSep 29, 2026
The September 2026 UC San Diego CTTE survey found about 40% of respondents nationwide expected immigration officers at a voting location in their community, matching the claim's figure. The sources describe this as expectation ('likely'), not explicitly 'concern', but that label difference does not change the core figure, and an earlier January survey's 37% figure falls close by.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… a little bit confused on how to read it, and they just kind of look at the entire portrait of America and they say they're not sure that the entire election will be fair. And then the last thing I'll say is that you can also zoom in on specific concerns. In that same UC San Diego poll, for instance, since 40% of people said they were concerned that ICE immigration enforcement would be at polling places in their area, and so that's a very specific concern, one that we have no evidence to support the idea that 40% of polling places in the country will have ICE, and yet people are clearly getting that from somewhere. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. CapRadio reports a September UC San Diego CTTE survey found 40% of respondents nationwide said they expected immigration officers to be present at a voting location in their community.[3]
Supports. Tucson Sentinel reports a recent UC San Diego poll found 40% of Americans think it's likely ICE agents will show up at the polls.[4]
Supports. CBS8 reports that at least a third of survey respondents across the political spectrum believed ICE agents would likely be present at polling places in their area.[5]
Context. The earlier January 2026 CTTE survey found 37% of respondents said ICE presence at polls was likely, with partisan splits of 44% Democrats, 34% independents and 30% Republicans, so estimates across surveys sit near 40%.[1][2]
Context. The NPR transcript that is the claimant's own source uses the 40% figure but cannot corroborate it; the claim's 'concerned' wording is the host's framing of the survey item.[6]
Sources
6 sources: 2 primary, 3 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1Trust in Elections Declines across Party Lines Ahead of 2026 ...today.ucsd.edu · primary source · cited for: context
- 2CTTE Report 2025-2026_2.12yankelovichcenter.ucsd.edu · primary source · cited for: context
- 3ICE sighting outside Sutter County polling center raises questions about voter intimidationcapradio.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Could ICE agents show up at the polls? Here's what voters should knowtucsonsentinel.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5UC San Diego survey finds fewer than half expect midterm elections to be 'free and fair'cbs8.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6It's time for a voting vibe check : The NPR Politics Podcastnpr.org · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- A UC San Diego poll found that non-white voters were significantly more likely than white voters to say that voting in the midterms would put them at risk of being questioned by federal officials.True
- The Department of Homeland Security stated that ICE agents would not be sent to the polls.True
- ICE agents are visiting residents in California, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin to inquire about their immigration status and voting history.True
- The City of Denver, LULAC, Common Cause, and Unidos U.S. sued to prevent ICE from deploying at polling stations.True