Politics

ICE Arrests Illegal Alien Working As Maine Cop For Trying To Buy Gun

Police tape at crime scene (Jobs For Felons Hub via Flickr)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday that it arrested an illegal immigrant employed as a police officer in Maine after he attempted to purchase a firearm.

Jon Luke Evans, a Jamaican illegal alien, was employed as a reserve police officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department when he was arrested on July 25. ICE and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were alerted about Evans after he tried to purchase a firearm illegally.

“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,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from our New England communities.”

ICE @EROBoston arrested a Jamaican alien & local police officer after he attempted to unlawfully purchase firearm in Maine.
Jon Luke Evans told ICE officers he intended to purchase the firearm for his employment as a police officer.
More coming soon on https://t.co/p6jevNJA62 pic.twitter.com/eJgrbjj15L

— ERO Boston (@EROBoston) July 28, 2025

Evans entered the U.S. legally through Miami International Airport on Sept. 24, 2023, but overstayed his visa after it expired on Oct. 1, 2023, according to ICE.

The Old Orchard Beach Police Department stated that Evans was hired in May as a summer reserve officer. The department said it reviewed multiple forms of identification and submitted his I-9 federal work authorization form to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) E-Verify system, which approved the form on May 12.

“Evans passed all physical and medical checks, passed a background check, was approved by Homeland Security to work in the United States, and underwent the standard course of training for a reserve officer before he was deployed on duty,” said Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard. “Reserve officers face a lengthy probation period, and Evans’ probationary employment status is now under review.”

DHS did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Reserve officers are assigned to beach patrol duty and community policing, receive firearm training and are issued a department firearm. However, they are not allowed to take the firearm home or carry personal firearms while on duty, according to the police department.

Maine is among several states that allow non-citizens to work in law enforcement positions. In April, ICE officers arrested an illegal immigrant from Congo working as a corrections officer in Falmouth, Maine, after he allegedly attempted to illegally purchase a firearm.