Michigan GOP delegate calls for ICE cosplayers at the polls

A precinct delegate and election worker is reportedly looking to recruit volunteers to dress up as ICE agents on Election Day—which is a federal crime.

MICHIGAN—While the Trump administration has spent weeks dangling the threat of ICE agents at polling places, at least one Michigan Republican seemingly decided not to wait for federal action.

A Facebook page purportedly belonging to Roswell “Ross” Barranco, an Oakland County Republican Party precinct delegate for Michigan’s 6th Congressional District, posted on March 20 that Barranco was looking for volunteers to show up at the polls “dressed up as ICE agents.”

The post would be troubling enough on its own. But records show Barranco has also been employed as an election worker for the city of Novi as recently as Aug. 26, 2024—meaning taxpayers essentially paid for him to help run elections that he may also be trying to undermine.

“It is bad enough that the Trump administration won’t rule out sending ICE agents at the polls. But now, Michigan Republicans are trying to deceive voters into a panic by recruiting people to impersonate ICE agents, which happens to be a federal crime,” said Justin Mendoza, executive director of Progress Michigan, which first surfaced the post in a press release on Thursday. 

Progress Michigan is now calling on Michigan Republican Party Chairman Jim Runestad to condemn Barranco’s actions or clarify whether this is a strategy the party actually endorses.

Barranco has not publicly responded to the Progress Michigan report. The Facebook page that posted the message didn’t immediately respond to The ‘Gander on Thursday afternoon. 

Runestad and the Michigan Republican Party have also not issued a statement. 

Fear is the strategy

Since early in the year, Trump allies—including Steve Bannon—have been openly calling for ICE to patrol polling sites ahead of the 2026 midterms. Bannon described recent ICE deployments to airports as a “test run” to “perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterms.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also declined to guarantee that ICE agents wouldn’t be near voting locations. Border Czar Tom Homan, likewise, has refused to rule it out.

Still, federal law has banned deploying military or “armed men” to polling places since the end of the Civil War. Separately, impersonating a federal officer is a crime under 18 U.S.C. § 912—punishable by up to three years in federal prison and significant fines. 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also makes it illegal for anyone to intimidate voters, and allows voters to sue without having to prove the other party intended to intimidate them.

And in communities with significant immigrant populations, even the suggestion of immigration enforcement near a polling place threatens to drive down turnout on Election Day. 

“I think that there is an attempt to use rhetoric around ICE at the polls to stoke fear,” Danielle Lang of the Campaign Legal Center told CNN. “I just want voters to know there’s no reason to believe that there’s going to be law enforcement at the polls. The laws have not changed.”

Meanwhile, across the country, the FBI has been warning that actual criminals are impersonating ICE agents to commit assaults, robberies, and kidnappings—a crisis made worse by the Trump administration’s practice of deploying agents in plainclothes and masks.

Michigan has several competitive statewide and congressional races on the 2026 ballot. Oakland County—where Barranco serves as a precinct delegate—is a swing-area bellwether. 

It’s unclear whether Barranco is still employed as an election worker for the city of Novi. Messages left with the city clerk’s office were not immediately returned on Thursday afternoon. 

This story is still developing. Check back for updates as they become available. 

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