A Department of Homeland Security official promises that federal immigration agents will not be at polling places during the midterm elections

DENVER (AP) — A Department of Homeland Security official on Wednesday told state elections directors that immigration agents will not be stationed at polls during November’s midterm elections, an attempt to quell one of Democrats’ biggest concerns about potential election interference from the Trump administration.

Read more: Fact checking DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on her agency’s role in the election

Heather Honey, who serves as deputy assistant secretary of state for election integrity, told a group of secretaries of state that “any suggestion that ICE would be present at any polling site is simply not true,” according to a statement from Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat.

A spokeswoman for Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Reed said Honey also pledged, and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, posted on the social media site

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

Honey, an election conspiracy theorist who has supported false claims that President Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election, has been in contact with representatives of the FBI, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the Postal Service and other federal agencies to talk about coordination in the midterm elections.

Read more: The Trump administration is full of people who supported his false claims in the 2020 election

Such a call would normally be routine, but several moves by the Trump administration this year have alarmed Democratic secretaries of state.

The Ministry of Justice filed lawsuits to obtain detailed voter data, without explaining why it wanted this information. Trump also renewed his false claims that widespread fraud marred the 2020 election and urged his administration to investigate.

Relying on long-debunked election conspiracy theories, the FBI earlier this month raided an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, a Democratic stronghold that includes Atlanta, to seize 2020 ballots and other voting records.

He watches: DHS Secretary Noem speaks about the SAVE Act and election security in Phoenix

Democratic officials and public interest lawyers across the country have been strategizing for months about how to respond to Trump’s potential interference in the midterm votes and vote counting.

Honey’s presence on the call was a reminder of the new environment for election officials. The United States Constitution stipulates that states, not the federal government, administer elections. Most states grant this authority to the elected office of the Secretary of State.

Participants on the call said the Democratic secretaries of state asked Hoehne several questions about the Trump administration’s cuts to election security funding, its campaign to root out noncitizen voting — which is already illegal and rarely happens — as well as concerns about federal law enforcement officers showing up at polls in the fall.

Read more: The affidavit says the FBI searched Fulton County offices to investigate possible “defects” in the 2020 election.

The White House has ridiculed such concerns before, noting that there was no interruption during last year’s election, when Democrats performed well. During a congressional hearing earlier this month, the heads of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection responded “No, sir” when asked if they were participating in any efforts to protect voting centers.

Democrats point out that Trump was willing to try to overturn his loss in 2020, pardoned those who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 on his behalf, and staffed his administration with people who helped him try to overturn the results in 2020.

Associated Press writer Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.