A Maine police officer who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement almost two weeks ago has been moved to a second facility, according to reports.
Jon Luke Evans, a Jamaican national who is a reserve officer at the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, was arrested July 25 after he attempted to purchase a firearm for his police work after his visa expired, ICE said in a statement. The police department said that although reserve officers are issued firearms, they are never asked to purchase any other firearms for the performance of their duties.
For the past few weeks, reports have placed Evans at different detention centers across New England. He was initially held at Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, according to WCVB and The Boston Globe. ICE subsequently moved him to the Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island, according to WCVB. It was not immediately clear why he was transferred.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Evans’ location is unclear. The Independent has asked ICE to confirm Evans’ location but the agency did not respond. Attempts to trace Evans’ relatives were unsuccessful.
ICE said agents detained Evans after he tried to buy a firearm in Biddeford, Maine. The attempted purchase triggered an alert at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Evans lawfully entered the United States in September 2023. One week later, he was scheduled to take a flight out of the country, but never boarded. He violated the terms of his lawful admission when he overstayed his visa, ICE said.
“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 ERO Boston acting Field Office Director, Patricia H. Hyde, said in a statement.
In the wake of Evans’ arrest, the Old Orchard Beach’s police chief, Elise Chard, and Diana Asanza, town manager, issued a joint statement on how he got the job.
Evans applied to be a seasonal reserve officer in April, a job which entails community service, beach patrol, and providing support for the department during the summer months.
As part of the hiring process, the town compiled a 153-page personnel file on Evans that included his IDs cards, medical records, educational records, and additional background information. The police department then “thoroughly” verified the information and found it to be accurate.
Evans also completed an I-9 federal immigration and work authorization form to verify that he was legally authorized to work in the U.S. After Evans passed a physical test and other exams required for the role, the police department then submitted the completed I-9 form to the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify Program, which allows employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S.
On May 12, DHS verified that Evans was authorized to work in the U.S., reporting his status as “Alien Authorized to Work,” the police chief and town manager said.
Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until, and unless, DHS verified his status, they added.
DHS verified Evans’ Form I-766 — an employment authorization document — which showed he could hold employment in the country through March 2030.. The department only learned of his arrest from ICE’s news release, Chard said.
“Simply stated, had the federal government flagged his information the Town would not have hired Mr. Evans,” Chard continued. “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.”
The police chief had earlier explained that while reserve officers are issued firearms by the department, they’re not allowed “to purchase or carry any other firearms for the performance of their duties.”
Evans’ probationary employment status is now under review.
“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,” Chard said.
The Independent has contacted a DHS spokesperson for comment.
In response to the Old Orchard Beach Police’s remarks about the apparent flaws in the DHS’s E-Verify system, Assistant Secretary Dept. of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin told The Independent that the police department had a “reckless reliance” on the system.
"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.
“The Old Orchard Beach Police Department’s reckless reliance on E-Verify to justify arming an illegal alien, Jon Luke Evans violates federal law, and does not absolve them of their failure to conduct basic background checks to verify legal status.”
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