An illegal immigrant who allegedly filed a false asylum claim based on being gay, got hired as a county correctional officer in Indiana, and later married the sheriff’s daughter, is now in federal immigration custody.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ERO Indianapolis arrested Selah Dine Habib, 28, an illegal alien from Mauritania, on May 21 for being unlawfully present in the United States.
Habib was hired as a corrections officer at the Jay County Jail in Portland, Indiana, after he passed federal E-Verify checks. Habib unlawfully entered the U.S. in 2023 during the Biden administration, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He married the daughter of Jay County Sheriff Larry Ray Newton, whose office employed Habib as a correctional officer at the county jail.
Habib is fighting final deportation orders to remove him from the United States, per local outlet WIBC Radio, which first reported on Habib’s arrest. He is currently in ICE custody at the Clay County Jail detention facility in Brazil, Indiana.
He allegedly entered the United States under a “fraudulent” asylum claim from the country of Mauritania in northwest Africa, Fox News Digital reported. Federal law allows migrants to make LGBTQ-specific asylum claims if they fear persecution in their native country.
“His pending asylum application is believed to be fraudulent, as he applied based on homosexuality in 2023 but married a woman in 2025,” DHS officials said.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended Habib in 2023. He entered the country illegally in March 2023 near Lukeville, Arizona, and was released by the Biden administration, DHS said.
In a statement from ICE, the agency added: “To be clear: Work authorization does NOT give someone legal status to be in our country.”
Newton told WIBC the county verified Habib’s employment through the federal E-Verify system and local officials had no reason to question Habib’s legal status.
The sheriff said Habib presented a driver’s license and a Social Security card before being hired, adding that the department relied on the Jay County Auditor’s office to process and vet his employment paperwork.
Each department is responsible for completing any reference checks, background checks, or drug tests before submitting new employees to the office, the Jay County Auditor’s office told WIBC.
“The sheriff would be able to speak to the standard practices completed in his office,” the auditor said in a statement, while confirming that “Mr. Habib submitted an I-9 with documentation, and an E-Verify Check was completed at the time of employment. The report came back as employment authorized.”
Sheriff Newton said that Habib served as a non-armed correctional officer at the county jail. He also confirmed Habib is his step-son-in-law and was married to his daughter.
Newton told WIBC that Habib started working at the county jail before marrying into the family. Habib is no longer employed at the Jay County Jail pending the outcome of the investigation.
“The case raises critical questions regarding local law enforcement vetting, documentation, and the reliability of federal employment screening networks,” WIBC noted.
Habib will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and “will receive full due process under federal law,” ICE said.
His case isn’t the only one that has raised red flags over flawed hiring practices among law enforcement agencies as well as concerns over the E-Verify system not flagging immigration status discrepancies or other paperwork errors.
In January, ICE detained a New Orleans police recruit after an immigration judge signed his removal order following his hiring. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick also said the recruit had valid documents and passed federal employment verification when hired in June 2025.
A month later, in February, ICE arrested an illegal immigrant who was training to become corrections officer at Delaware County Prison in Pennsylvania. Ibrahim George Kallon, a citizen of Sierra Leone, was arrested on suspicion of rape and other sexual offenses on Feb. 11 by the Glenolden Police Department.
Kallon obtained a visa that eventually expired in 2024. He was released by Delaware County Prison despite a federal immigration detainer, so ICE officers had to arrest him at-large, authorities said.
