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US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested a Jamaican nationwide for allegedly trying to buy a firearm illegally whereas employed as a reserve police officer in Outdated Orchard Seashore.
In line with ICE’s Enforcement and Removing Operations (ERO) in Boston, Jon Luke Evans was taken into custody with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after his firearm buy try raised considerations tied to his immigration standing on July 25 in Biddeford.
Federal authorities say Evans legally entered the US via Miami Worldwide Airport on Sept. 24, 2023, underneath a visa that required his departure by Oct. 1, 2023.
He failed to depart as required and has remained within the nation unlawfully since.
Throughout the investigation, Evans reportedly claimed he was searching for to buy the firearm to be used in his position with the Outdated Orchard Seashore Police Division.
ICE officers are actually questioning how a person with out lawful immigration standing was employed by a neighborhood police company and probably issued a department-issued weapon.
“This case raises critical considerations,” stated Patricia H. Hyde, appearing area workplace director for ERO Boston. “We’ll proceed working to make sure that people who violate immigration legal guidelines and pose potential threats to public security are held accountable.”
The Outdated Orchard Seashore Police Division advised Fox Information Digital that Evans was employed in Could as a seasonal officer and underwent a full background verify, bodily and medical screening, and regulation enforcement coaching.
As a part of the hiring course of, the division submitted his employment paperwork to DHS via the federal E-Confirm system. In line with police, DHS confirmed Evans’ eligibility to work, and his Employment Authorization Doc confirmed an expiration date of March 2030.
“Our division and our group relied on the Division of Homeland Safety’s E-Confirm program to make sure we have been assembly our obligations,” stated Police Chief Elise Chard. “We’re distressed and deeply involved about this obvious error on the a part of the federal authorities.”
Maine is one in every of a few dozen states that permits non-citizens with legitimate work permits to serve in regulation enforcement. Reserve officers in Outdated Orchard Seashore are seasonal workers tasked with group patrols and don’t take department-issued firearms dwelling or carry private weapons whereas on responsibility.
Evans’ probationary standing is presently underneath overview, and the division has launched an inside investigation to judge its hiring protocols and guarantee compliance with all federal and state legal guidelines.
“We take our authorized obligations very critically,” Chief Chard added.
“We intend to analyze this matter completely and decide what extra steps could also be mandatory shifting ahead.”
The arrest of Evans follows the same case from April, during which ICE officers detained one other unlawful immigrant regulation enforcement worker in Falmouth, Maine.
Gratien Milandou Wamba, a 32-year-old Congolese nationwide, was working as a corrections officer when he was apprehended by ICE for immigration violations after allegedly trying to buy a firearm illegally.
“Officers with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removing Operations Boston area workplace arrested Gratien Milandou Wamba, an illegally current, 32-year-old citizen of Congo,” ICE Spokesperson James Covington, noting the arrest stemmed from an illegal firearm buy try.
ICE emphasised that it’ll proceed enforcement efforts throughout New England, working in coordination with different federal companies to determine and apprehend people in violation of U.S. immigration legal guidelines, particularly these employed in delicate public security positions.
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