The Previous Orchard Seashore Police division has vowed to research the arrest of the officer.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) mentioned on July 28 that it arrested a reserve police officer who was illegally current in america after he allegedly tried to illegally buy a firearm in Maine.
Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removing Operations Boston, in partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), arrested Jon Luke Evans on July 25 in Biddeford after his try and buy the firearm triggered an alert to ATF brokers.
ICE mentioned in a press release that on the time of his arrest, Evans, a Jamaican nationwide, was employed as a reserve police officer with the Previous Orchard Seashore Police Division.
It mentioned that Evans admitted to ICE officers that he tried to buy the firearm for his employment.
The company mentioned Evans legally entered america in September 2023 on the Miami Worldwide Airport in Florida. It mentioned he violated the phrases of his lawful admission when he overstayed his visa after failing to depart the nation in October 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,” mentioned ICE ERO Boston appearing Area Workplace Director Patricia H. Hyde. “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.”
Hyde accused the Previous Orchard Seashore Police Division of “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,” Hyde mentioned.
In a separate assertion on July 29, Previous Orchard Seashore Police Chief Elise Chard mentioned that Evans had obtained approval from the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) to work for the division as a summer time reserve officer in Could.
“As part of the standard hiring process by the Town and the Police Department, Evans was required to complete an I-9 federal immigration and work authorization form to verify that he was legally authorized to work in the United States,” Chard mentioned.
Chard mentioned the city reviewed a number of types of identification earlier than hiring Evans, together with picture identification, and submitted his I-9 kind to DHS’s E-Confirm Program, a web based system that enables employers to substantiate the eligibility of their staff to work legally in america.
DHS then verified that Evans was licensed to work in america, in line with Chard.
Evans’s I-9 kind was submitted and permitted by DHS on Could 12, 2025, she mentioned.
“Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until and unless Homeland Security verified his status,” Chard mentioned. “The Police Department was notified that Evans was legally permitted to work in the U.S., and his I-766 Employment Authorization Document was not set to expire until March 2030.”
Maine is amongst a handful of states that enable noncitizen residents to work in regulation enforcement, Chard mentioned.
Reserve officers obtain firearms coaching and are issued a firearm; nevertheless, they don’t seem to be allowed to deliver a Division-issued firearm dwelling with them and should hand their firearms into the division on the finish of every shift, she mentioned.
“Reserve officers are not requested to, nor are they allowed to purchase or carry any other firearms for the performance of their duties,” Chard famous.
Chard added that the police division “takes its legal responsibilities very seriously” and is “distressed and deeply concerned about this apparent error on the part of the federal government.”
She mentioned it plans to research Evans’s arrest “to determine what other steps we should take moving forward to ensure our continued compliance with all applicable laws.”
It’s not clear whether or not Evans has authorized illustration.
The Epoch Occasions has contacted a spokesperson for ICE for remark.
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