John Luke Evans, a reserve officer from Jamaica detained in Massachusetts, becomes the second Maine law enforcement figure arrested by ICE for an expired visa and attempted firearm purchase. While ICE Boston Director Patricia Hyde accuses Old Orchard Beach of knowingly employing an undocumented worker, Police Chief Elise Charge defends the department's reliance on DHS e-Verify approval granted on May 12th. Despite DHS later warning against sole dependence on the system, Evans remains under investigation, sparking a debate over whether non-citizens should serve in Maine's police force and highlighting systemic verification failures. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
|
Time
Text
ICE Detains Reserve Officer00:09:06
We have new information on the ICE detainment of a reserve Old Orchard Beach police officer from Jamaica.
Today we learned John Luke Evans is being detained at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts.
He's the second law enforcement officer in Maine detained by ICE allegedly for an expired visa and trying to buy a firearm.
As CBS 13's Brad Rogers reports, ICE claims both men tried to unlawfully buy a gun, triggering an alert to federal agents.
Wow.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement accuses Old Orchard Beach of knowingly employing a so-called undocumented worker from Jamaica.
ICE Boston Director Patricia Hyde says John Luke Evans not only broke U.S. immigration law, but he also illegally attempted to purchase a firearm.
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.
That's how he got caught because he tried to buy a gun.
Should he get flagged when he was trying to become a police officer?
Right, right.
Yeah, I got a new show for y'all.
Got a damn good show.
Before we get today's video, don't forget about our new giveaway.
F-250 King Ranch and Camper and 10,000 in cash.
Get in and win.
Just go to my website.
Take my coffee.
Put my swag.
You get automatically and it win.
That's crazy.
He got caught at the gun store.
To be accused of being reckless, I'm highly disappointed that somebody would think that the police department, the town of Old Orchard.
Police Chief Elise Charge says the federal government is the one who verified John Luke Evans was cleared to work in the first place through the Department of Homeland Security's e-Verify program.
We did what we were supposed to do.
And I believe that the documents that he gave us, we did the verification as we would have with anybody else.
It's shedding bad light upon her and him and it's making him look out to be a criminal.
Two years ago, Brent Kinney hired John Luke Evans for security on the pier.
He's kind, he's polite, he'll treat you with respect.
He is one of the hardest working people I've ever met in my life.
This should not have been done to him.
Police Chief Charge says Officer Evans was doing a great job and says all reserve officers are issued a firearm while on duty.
She says she hopes the court finds no wrongdoing so the young man can get on with his life.
ICE has not said what specific charges Evans faces.
We reached out again today to ask that question, but have not heard back.
We also don't know if he has an attorney.
In Old Orchard Beach, Brad Rogers, CBS Routine News.
The Department of Homeland Security says Old Orchard Beach Police shouldn't have relied solely on its e-Verify program.
A video about e-Verify on the department's own YouTube page suggests otherwise.
E-Verify is the business community's trusted partner to ensure a verified, authorized workforce, providing accurate confirmation that all new employees are eligible to work so you can focus on other business.
Old Orchard Police said they did everything they normally do and are required to do before they were given the okay to allow Evans to work.
Wait a minute.
Let me go to this next video.
There it's another comes from another viewpoint.
If he hands over a social security card and says he must have given them fake documents.
Well, he overstayed his visa.
But even if you're here on a visa, why are you allowed to become a police officer in the United States of America?
Right, in Maine.
I can't get a visa, go to the United Kingdom, and become a cop there.
A local police department in Maine is being put on blast by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accusing it of hiring an undocumented immigrant as a reserve officer.
ICE became aware of the Jamaican National after he allegedly tried to illegally purchase a gun out the town.
Okay, so when he tried to buy the gun, it got flagged in the system, I'm sure.
And that's when ICE became aware of what was going on with him.
And then they later determined that this dude is a cop up in Maine.
But he's in Maine.
Why is this going to Massachusetts?
Is that where he's trying to buy the gun?
Probably.
Is firing back.
NBC 10 immigration reporter Oscar Margaine joining us live from Old Orchard Beach in Maine.
Oscar.
Hey, JC, and ICE is saying that Old Orchard Beach police were the ones who basically knowingly broke the law in the hiring of this reserve officer who ICE says overstayed his visa.
Now, the department said that they were only following the law and that it was actually ICE's parent agency, Homeland Security, the ones who approved the work permit in the first place.
It's not the type of headline Margaret Jones expected to come out of her town of Old Orchard Beach.
To have this kind of incident...
Well, this is a liberal network.
The other network we watch is liberal.
A work permit?
You got to be a citizen to be a cop in the United States.
I don't care what kind of work permit you got.
Yeah.
You can't just come here and be an immigrant.
You're not be a citizen.
You got a work permit.
You go to the police station, fill out applications, become a cop.
Yeah, but see, you get what I'm saying?
This is NBC 10 Boston.
Yeah.
Liberal.
The other news station we just watched from their viewpoint was liberal.
They're trying to say, they're trying to make it out that he didn't do anything wrong.
Beach.
To have this kind of incident come to my town is extremely upsetting and scary.
Luke Evans, a reserve police officer from Jamaica, was detained by immigration agents on Friday in the next town over.
Evans was flanked by the ATF after allegedly trying to purchase a gun for his job, which the town says is not allowed by reserve officers.
He had it made.
He had it made.
He was a cop.
Yeah.
Well, dude, I was a husband.
Yeah, he's a reserve officer, right?
Yeah, he's not allowed to have a gun, though.
But he went out and tried to buy a gun anyway for his job.
Sub-Saharan.
That's when ICE found out he had overstayed his visa in late 2023.
The acting ICE expired in 2023.
We're in 2025.
That's crazy.
And they hired him.
Director for Boston said in part, 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.
The town's police chief pushed back, saying Evans was hired after he completed his I-9 work authorization, which was submitted to ICE parent agency, Homeland Security.
The work permit was approved by DHS on May 12th, she said, with an expiration date of March 2030.
The chief...
They're trying to put the onus on the DHS.
Say, hey, we did everything on our end.
You guys approved it.
Yeah.
Chief went on to say, our department and our community relied on the Department of Homeland Security's e-Verify program to ensure we were meeting our obligations.
Oh, it's certainly out of proportion.
Oh, come on.
No, when you, a position like that, they do a thorough background check.
They Call your high school, your high school coach.
He's from Jamaica.
Yeah.
Your ex-girlfriend, they verify your information.
Yeah.
Abortion out of line.
Resident and visitors we spoke with feel like the police department is being white people jaywalking and little ass and liberal city.
Let me go from white people just jaywalk.
That is nuts.
Wait a minute.
I see one white person.
I think the rest of them are immigrants.
Well, this is worse.
She's got a little kid in the stroller.
Look at all them cars coming.
That is nuts.
With feel like the police department is being bullied.
It's going to make you old Orchard Beach.
Old Orchard Beach, with a population of 9,000, often sees an influx of up to 75,000 tourists this time of year.
Evans was sworn in in June as a temporary seasonal hire.
The PD usually makes these hires ahead of the busy summer season.
The state of Maine is one of a dozen that allows non-citizen residents to work in law enforcement.
Bingo.
But they're trying to blame DHS.
Yeah, they knew that dude wasn't a citizen.
They knew that.
Bingo.
Non-citizens to work at a police department.
That's nuts.
Nothing could go wrong there.
I don't understand why anyone would accuse them of doing anything untoward.
Now I asked Homeland Security specifically about the claims made by the police department that they were the ones who dropped the ball here, but they would not answer those specific questions.
Now, the police... Said he's spinning it.
Oh, this is going to fall on the police department.
They're trying to put the onus on DHS.
You're the police department.
But you got to do your due diligence before you send that information to DHS.
You didn't do your home before you sent it to DHS.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they allowed non-citizens to work for that police department.
They did this on purpose.
Yeah.
Police department says that it's currently reviewing the officers' employments.
Police Blame DHS For Hire00:00:48
We still don't know if Evans remains in nice custody.
Reporting live and old.
Well, he getting deported.
So it seems like he came here legally.
He had a visa.
He overstayed his visa.
Sounds like he might have had a work permit at one point in time, but he overstayed his overstays.