What to know
- ICE arrested an Old Orchard Beach reserve police officer, a Jamaican national accused of overstaying his visa and attempting to illegally purchase a firearm.
- The police department, however, claims that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security verified the officer's legal work status and approved his employment and firearm issuance.
- The Old Orchard Beach Police Department criticized the federal government for the error and pledged to investigate further.
By Christopher Burns
Source Bangor Daily News, Maine
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested an Old Orchard Beach reserve police officer that it says was in the United States illegally.
Jon Luke Evans, who is from Jamaica, was arrested in Biddeford on Friday, according to ICE.
His arrest came after Evans tried to buy a firearm for his work as a reserve police officer, the agency said Monday.
ICE said that Evans entered the U.S. at Miami International Airport in Florida on Sept. 24, 2023, but failed to leave on his scheduled departure date, Oct. 1, 2023.
"Jon Luke Evans not only broke U.S. immigration law, but he also illegally attempted to purchase a firearm. Shockingly, Evans was employed as a local law enforcement officer," said Patricia H. Hyde, the acting field office director for ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations. "The fact that a police department would hire an illegal alien and unlawfully issue him a firearm while on duty would be comical if it weren't so tragic. We have a police department that was knowingly breaking the very law they are charged with enforcing in order to employ an illegal alien. ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from our New England communities."
But the Old Orchard Police Department fired back late Monday night, saying the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cleared Evans to work in the beachside community.
"Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until and unless Homeland Security verified his status," the department said in a dueling press release.
Old Orchard Beach police hired Evans in May to boost the department's ranks for the summer tourist season. Reserve officers, who work part time, are typically assigned to bicycle or foot patrols and community policing. They are issued a service weapon but have to turn it in at the end of their shift, the department said.
The department added that all reserve officers must pass a background check and the same physical and medical exams as full-time officers.
Maine is one of a dozen states that allow non-citizens legally residing in the U.S. to work in law enforcement.
Evans presented necessary identification and completed an I-9 federal immigration and work authorization form, which Old Orchard Beach submitted to Homeland Security's E-Verify Program. On May 12, the federal government approved Evans' application and verified that he was legally permitted to work in the U.S. and that his I-766 employment authorization document didn't expire until March 2030, according to Old Orchard Beach police.
Old Orchard Beach hit the federal government for making this "apparent error" in approving Evans to work in the country.
"The Old Orchard Beach Police Department takes its legal responsibilities very seriously, and takes great care to follow the laws that we are tasked with enforcing. In hiring Evans, our department and our community relied on the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify program to ensure we were meeting our obligations, and we are distressed and deeply concerned about this apparent error on the part of the federal government. We intend to investigate this matter to determine what other steps we should take moving forward to ensure our continued compliance with all applicable laws," the department said.
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