The now-former Maine police officer who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested in July has agreed to leave the country, the Associated Press reported. The officer, Jon Luke Evans, is a citizen of Jamaica and had authorization from the Department of Homeland Security to work as an officer.
A judge granted the former Old Orchard Beach police officer voluntary departure on Monday, a representative with ICE confirmed to the AP. His arrest came as Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement to meet President Donald Trump’s goal of arresting 3,000 people every day, according to White House adviser Stephen Miller.
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ICE admitted that Evans lawfully entered the country in September 2023, but said he overstayed a visa and never boarded an October 2023 flight. Agents detained him after he attempted to buy a firearm for his job.
“Jon Luke Evans not only broke U.S. immigration law, but he also illegally attempted to purchase a firearm,” said Patricia Hyde, field office director for ICE’s Enforcement Removal Operations in Boston. “Shockingly, Evans was employed as a local law enforcement officer.”
Hyde also claimed Old Orchard Beach Police Department was “knowingly” breaking the law when they hired Evans.
Old Orchard police respond to allegations
Old Orchard Beach Police Department doesn’t permit reserve officers to use or buy firearms beyond what’s issued, Police Chief Elise Chard said in a July 28 Facebook post. Chard added in a follow-up press release that had the federal government flagged Evans, the town wouldn’t have hired him.
“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,” Chard said.
“The Old Orchard Beach Police Department does not knowingly employ undocumented immigrants or those living in the country unlawfully,” Chard said in the release, “and we go to great lengths to verify the employment eligibility of all applicants. To assert otherwise about our police department is simply not true or accurate.”
Evans authorized to work in the US
According to the press release, Homeland Security approved Evans to work in the town as a seasonal reserve officer on May 12. The authorization expires in March 2030.
Seasonal reserve officers are part-time employees that conduct beach and bicycle patrols and community service. The two said those officers are needed to supplement the department in the summer months, when more tourists are in town.
To get the job, Evans had to submit his Jamaican birth certificate and passport, Massachusetts driver’s license, a U.S. Social Security Card and other federal documents. The police department created a 153-page personnel file on Evans that included the results of his background check, driving and medical records, references and more.
Despite Evans receiving approval from Homeland Security to work as a police officer, ICE classified him as an “illegal alien” in a July 28 release announcing his arrest.
