Gavin Newsom Threatens to Arrest ICE 'Thugs' Near California Polling Locations: 'We Will Find You'
In two sternly worded social media messages on Election Day, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to arrest Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents if they enforced the laws at polling places in California.
The move comes as Californians vote on an initiative that would require government-issued ID to cast a ballot in the state.
Newsom’s remarks were in response to an X post by ICE, which did not directly mention either California or the initiative specifically, but said that voting by illegal immigrants would be dealt with harshly.
“If you vote illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you,” the Tuesday afternoon post read. “There will be no escape.”
If you vote illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you.
There will be no escape.
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) November 3, 2026
Newsom responded shortly thereafter with two posts aimed at threatening ICE agents who carried out law enforcement operations.
“If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape,” he said in the first.
If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 3, 2026
“A WARNING TO DONALD TRUMP’S THUGS: If you violate California’s laws, if you interfere with the vote, you will be prosecuted,” he said in the second.
A WARNING TO DONALD TRUMP’S THUGS:
If you violate California’s laws, if you interfere with the vote, you will be prosecuted.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 3, 2026
As KATV reported, President Donald Trump has floated the idea of deploying ICE agents to polling places to ensure noncitizens don’t vote in elections.
However, there were no reports of agents being deployed on Tuesday in California or anywhere else.
Also of note, the Supreme Court denied a petition by the Trump administration to set aside more than 20,000 ballots in California that may have been cast by noncitizens.
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According to The Washington Post, the brief order denying the request was unsigned and issued just hours after the Trump administration had appealed a lower court decision.
Newsom’s posts came on the decisive day for Proposition 39, a measure that would require either government-issued ID for in-person voting or the last four digits of a government ID for mail-in ballots.
“Whether you think voter fraud is a big or small problem, Prop 39’s bipartisan solution for Voter ID will increase public trust and confidence in the election process which is important to the health of our democracy,” proponents of the initiative said on the Yes on 39 website.
“Prop 39 for Voter ID keeps mail in ballots so voting remains easy and puts protections in our state constitution to ensure every valid vote is counted.”
In a July speech, President Trump said that the Department of Homeland Security had identified at least 278,000 foreigners who had illegally cast ballots in federal elections.
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