Skip to content

Immigration & BorderDeveloping

Reports say ICE told officers to ease immigration enforcement on Election Day

By

Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets across the spectrum.

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Masked officers in vests marked POLICE ICE and ERO stand behind a clear riot shield.
Image via NewsweekHow images are chosenReport this image

The Intercept and The Daily Wire report, citing anonymous ICE officials, that the agency passed down verbal orders to ease immigration arrests on Election Day, Tuesday. The Intercept says the directive called for a halt to all enforcement operations, and an activist who tracks ICE activity said the day had the least observed activity of the year. The Daily Wire says officers were told to arrest only people transferred from local jails and to stop vehicle stops, and that some arrests continued. Newsweek, citing exit polls, reports that 14 percent of voters named immigration the most important issue, behind the economy at 39 percent.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. Editors read every story. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Anonymous ICE officials said orders to ease or halt enforcement on Election Day were given verbally rather than in writing.

    Reported byFar Left1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    The Intercept
    Far Right
    The Daily Wire

  2. The Intercept reports the directive called for a halt to all immigration enforcement operations on Election Day.

    One outletThe Intercept· Far Left

  3. The Daily Wire reports officers were told to arrest only people transferred from local jails and to halt vehicle stops.

    One outletThe Daily Wire· Far Right

  4. An activist who tracks ICE activity said Election Day had the least enforcement activity observed this year.

    One outletThe Intercept· Far Left

  5. Exit polls found 14 percent of voters named immigration the most important issue, behind the economy at 39 percent.

    One outletNewsweek· Center

  6. Exit polls found 57 percent of voters said the administration’s immigration enforcement had gone too far.

    One outletNewsweek· Center

What is contested

Where accounts differ

Questions the coverage answers differently, and who says what.

  • Did ICE halt all immigration enforcement on Election Day?

    The Intercept, citing ICE officials, says the directive called for a halt to all enforcement operations. The Daily Wire, citing three ICE sources, says officers were told to take a lighter approach, arrest only people transferred from jails, and still made some arrests on Tuesday.

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets’ coverage concerns immigration enforcement around Election Day. The left and right report anonymous ICE sources describing eased or halted operations, while the center reports exit polls on immigration as a voting issue, and the sides differ on how far the orders went.

  • the left

    1 outlet

    The Intercept’s headline presents the Election Day orders as secret and as a halt to all raids, stating it as fact on the word of anonymous officials.

    ICE Was Loaded verb“Secretly Ordered”Describing the orders as secret adds a concealment judgement beyond what anonymous sourcing establishes.More neutral: Was Reportedly OrderedDisagree with this highlight? to Stop All Immigration Raids on Election Day
    The InterceptFar LeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    1 outlet

    Newsweek’s headline frames immigration as a political issue that did not decide the midterms, drawing on exit polls rather than on any Election Day orders.

    How ICE Quietly Escaped the Midterms Heat
    NewsweekCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The Daily Wire’s exclusive headline presents a softer approach on Election Day as reported by unnamed sources, framing it as a scoop.

    EXCLUSIVE: ICE Officers Told To Take Softer Approach On Election Day, Sources Say
    The Daily WireFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    Secretly Ordered

  • Center0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Right0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    Secretly OrderedMore neutral: Was Reportedly Ordered

    Describing the orders as secret adds a concealment judgement beyond what anonymous sourcing establishes.

    ICE Was Secretly Ordered to Stop All Immigration Raids on Election Day

    Used byThe Intercept (Far Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • secret orders
  • halt to all raids
  • low observed enforcement activity

Leaves out

  • the Daily Wire’s account that some arrests continued on Election Day

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • The InterceptFar Left

    ICE Was Loaded verb“Secretly Ordered”Describing the orders as secret adds a concealment judgement beyond what anonymous sourcing establishes.More neutral: Was Reportedly OrderedDisagree with this highlight? to Stop All Immigration Raids on Election Day

    “Yesterday was the least amount of activity observed from ICE ERO throughout the entire year so far,” said an activist who monitors immigration enforcement nationwide.

    Read at The Intercept (opens in a new tab)

From the center

1 outlet

Leads with

  • exit poll findings
  • public opposition to enforcement
  • economy as top issue

Leaves out

  • the reported Election Day orders to ICE officers, covered by the left and right outlets

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • softer approach to arrests
  • unnamed ICE sources
  • arrests limited to jail transfers

Leaves out

  • the Intercept’s report that the directive called for a halt to all enforcement operations

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Daily WireFar Right

    EXCLUSIVE: ICE Officers Told To Take Softer Approach On Election Day, Sources Say

    Some federal immigration officers across the country were instructed to take a lighter approach to arrests during Election Day on Tuesday, three Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources told The Daily Wire. …

    Read at The Daily Wire (opens in a new tab)

The stories you read build My Mix, a private picture of which sides cover the stories you choose, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    12 hr 18 min later

    Its first report, Nov 4, 6:29 PM EST

  • Center

    30 min later

    Its first report, Nov 4, 6:41 AM EST

  • Right

    First to report

    The Daily Wire, Nov 4, 6:11 AM EST

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The Daily WireFar RightNov 4, 6:11 AM EST
  2. NewsweekCenterNov 4, 6:41 AM EST
  3. The InterceptFar LeftNov 4, 6:29 PM EST

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

Read next

Help someone else find the truth beneath the surface

Most people see one side of a story. Share this one, so they can see how every side is telling it and decide for themselves.

Email it
Embed

Show this story’s coverage card on your own site, blog or class page. It has the headline, who is covering it and a link back here, and it tracks nobody. See the card

Seen a mistake? Tell us what is wrong with this page