A police officer who was arrested by immigration authorities in Maine last month after previously being authorized to work in the U.S. has agreed to voluntarily return to his home country of Jamaica, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told The Associated Press on Monday.
The Old Orchard Beach Police Department said it learned that reserve officer Jon Luke Evans was taken into ICE custody through the agency's press release.
ICE claimed Evans had entered the U.S. legally through Miami International Airport in 2023 but had overstayed his visa.
The police department said when Evans was hired as a part-time seasonal reserve officer, his I-9 federal immigration and work authorization form was submitted to the Department of Homeland Security's E-verify system and was approved.
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But when Evans attempted to buy a firearm, ICE said it "triggered an alert to ATF agents, who worked in coordination with ICE to make the arrest."
"Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until and unless Homeland Security verified his status," Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard said in a statement. "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."
Chard said the police department was "distressed and deeply concerned about this apparent error on the part of the federal government."
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin accused the town of “reckless reliance” on the department’s E-Verify program.
The Associated Press reported that a judge has granted voluntary departure for Evans and that he could leave as soon as Monday.
