Judge temporarily blocks deportation of Boulder suspect's family
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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Maine police officer detained by Ice agrees to leave US
A Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities has agreed to voluntarily leave the country, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) said on Monday. Ice arrested the Old Orchard Beach police department reserve officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, on 25 July, as part of the agency's effort to step up immigration enforcement. Officials with the town and police department have said federal authorities previously told them Evans was legally authorized to work in the US. An Ice representative reached by telephone told the Associated Press on Monday that a judge has granted voluntary departure for Evans and that he could leave as soon as that day. The representative did not provide other details about Evans's case. Evans's arrest touched off a dispute between Old Orchard Beach officials and Ice. The police chief, Elise Chard, has said the department was notified by federal officials that Evans was legally permitted to work in the country, and that the town submitted information via the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s E-Verify program before Evans's employment. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of homeland security, then accused the town of 'reckless reliance' on the department's E-Verify program. E-Verify is an online system that allows employers to check if potential employees can work legally in the US. The town was aware of reports that Evans plans to leave the country voluntarily, Chard said on Monday. 'The town reiterates its ongoing commitment to meeting all state and federal laws regarding employment,' Chard said in a statement. 'We will continue to rely on the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form and the E-Verify database to confirm employment eligibility.' Ice's detainee lookup website said on Monday that Evans was being held at the Donald W Wyatt detention facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. However, a representative for Wyatt said Evans had been transferred to an Ice facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. Ice officials did not respond to requests for comment on the discrepancy. It was unclear if Evans was represented by an attorney, and a message left for him at the detention facility was not returned. Ice officials said in July that Evans overstayed his visa and unlawfully attempted to buy a firearm. The Maine news outlet WMTW reported Monday that Evans's agreement to a voluntary departure means he will be allowed to leave the US at his own expense to avoid being deported.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Illegal migrant arrested by ICE while working as police officer
A former Maine police officer who has been detained for more than three weeks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has agreed to self-deport. Jon-Luke Evans, a Jamaican national who worked as a reserve police officer in Old Orchard Beach, was taken into custody by ICE agents on July 25 and has been detained ever since. But court records show an immigration judge has now granted him a voluntary departure, allowing him to leave the country on his own volition as soon as that day. Under the voluntary departure, Evans is required to use his own money to leave the United States within a specific amount of time. By doing so, he avoids deportation and could potentially return to the United States sooner and more easily, WMTW reports. In order to secure a voluntary departure, Evans had to agree that he is not living in the United States legally, waive or withdraw any applications to remain in the country and show that he has the intention and the funds to leave the US. He had entered the country legally onboard a plane at Miami International Airport in Florida in September 2023 on a weeklong visa, but he never returned home and wound up becoming a cop in the popular resort town, federal officials say. Evans' illegal status was ultimately uncovered after the reserve officer attempted to purchase a firearm that he told officials he needed for his job. Reserve officers do carry firearms but are not allowed to bring them home and must return them to the department after their shifts, according to Old Orchard Police Chief Elise Chard. Chard clarified that reserve officers aren't asked to purchase firearms themselves and aren't allowed to carry other firearms for their duties. Evans' arrest touched off a dispute between Old Orchard Beach officials and ICE, with town and police officials arguing they did everything they could to verify that he was legally authorized to work in the United States. They noted that under the police department's hiring process, Evans was required to submit an I-9 Form to the Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify Program. An I-9 Form is a required document to work in the US. Both citizens and undocumented migrants are required to submit the form before employment. Chief Chard confirmed that Evans submitted his I-9 Form to Homeland Security and submitted photo identification for his employment with the department. 'The form was submitted and approved by DHS on May 12, 2025,' the police chief said. 'Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until and unless Homeland Security verified his status.' The department added that Evans had an approved Employment Authorization Document that wasn't set to expire until March 2030. But Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin claimed the police department had a 'reckless reliance' on the department's E-Verify program and should have done more to verify Evans' status. 'Usage of E-Verify does not absolve employers of their legal duty to verify documentation authenticity, and all employers should take necessary steps to effectively verify legal employment status,' she said in a statement. 'No illegal alien should ever be provided a firearm or serve in law enforcement, not only is it the law, it's also basic common sense,' McLaughlin argued. Still, she claimed the department's E-Verify Program is a proven tool that 'delivers high accuracy in verifying work authorization by cross-checking employee documents against government databases to combat rampant document fraud and protecting American workers.' Old Orchard Beach officials countered by claiming that the federal government has pushed all employers to rely on E-Verify. 'Simply stated, had the federal government flagged his information, my town would not have hired Mr. Evans,' Chard said. 'Any insinuation that the town and department were derelict in our efforts to verify Mr. Evans' eligibility to work for the town is false and appears to be an attempt to shift the blame onto a hard-working local law enforcement agency that has done its job.' Town Manager Diana Asanza also argued that the Old Orchard Beach 'follows all of the pre-employment guidelines expected of an employer in the state of Maine and in the US.' She then accused 'certain federal agencies' of working 'to undermine public trust and confidence in municipal law enforcement.' 'The Department of Homeland Security doubled down on its attack, but in doing so has thrown its own electronic verification system into question,' Asanza noted. 'If we should not trust the word of the federal computer system that verifies documents and employment eligibility, what good is that system?'
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
Maine police officer arrested by ICE agrees to leave the country
A Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities has agreed to voluntarily leave the country, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday. Old Orchard Beach Police Department reserve Officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, was arrested by ICE officials on July 25, as part of the agency's effort to step up immigration enforcement. Officials with the town and police department have said federal authorities previously told them Evans was legally authorized to work in the U.S. An ICE representative said Monday that a judge has granted voluntary departure for Evans and that he could leave as soon as that day. The representative did not provide other details about Evans' case. Evans' arrest touched off a dispute between Old Orchard Beach officials and ICE. Police Chief Elise Chard has said the department was notified by federal officials that Evans was legally permitted to work in the country, and that the town submitted information via the Department of Homeland Security 's E-Verify program prior to Evans' employment. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin then accused the town of 'reckless reliance' on the department's E-Verify program. E-Verify is an online system that allows employers to check if potential employees can work legally in the U.S. Officials with Old Orchard Beach did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ICE's detainee lookup website said Monday that Evans was being held at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. However, a representative for Wyatt said Evans had been transferred to an ICE facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. ICE officials did not respond to requests for comment on the discrepancy. It was unclear if Evans was represented by an attorney, and a message left for him at the detention facility was not returned. ICE officials said in July that Evans overstayed his visa and unlawfully attempted to purchase a firearm. WMTW-TV reported Monday that Evans' agreement to a voluntary departure means he will be allowed to leave the U.S. at his own expense to avoid being deported.
