After a Jamaican national tried to buy a gun illegally, news broke that he was trying to purchase the firearm for his job as a reserve police officer in a small town in Maine.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Jon Luke Evans on July 25 in Biddeford, Maine, prompting many to ask, “How did an illegal immigrant get hired as a cop in Old Orchard Beach, and believe he could purchase a firearm?”
Federal law states it is illegal to hire or continue to employ an illegal immigrant, “knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien.” And illegal immigrants cannot legally obtain or carry a gun in the U.S.
The local police force blames the E-Verify system, an online government system that allows employers to verify the employment eligibility of their employees.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin broke The Onion-worthy story, posting on X: “ICE says Jon Luke Evans, who is in the U.S. illegally as a visa overstay, was hired as a cop by Old Orchard Beach PD in ME, and admitted to trying to purchase the gun as part of his job.”
BREAKING: ICE confirms to @FoxNews they’ve arrested a Jamaican illegal alien who is employed as a police officer in Maine after he illegally attempted to buy a gun, which triggered an alert to ATF.
ICE says Jon Luke Evans, who is in the U.S. illegally as a visa overstay, was… pic.twitter.com/FfQWH0vH5V
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 28, 2025
Patricia H. Hyde, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting field office director, noted that “it 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,” Hyde said in a statement. “ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from our New England communities.”
The Old Orchard Beach police chief insists all of Evan’s paperwork, including verification of his immigration status and legal authority to work, checked out when the department hired Evans.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on May 12, verified and approved Evans’ authorization to work in the U.S., The Boston Globe reported.
“Evans would not have been permitted to begin work as a reserve officer until and unless Homeland Security verified his status‚” Police Chief Elise Chard said in a statement.
Evans’ attempt to purchase the firearm triggered an alert to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agents, who worked in coordination with ICE ERO Boston to make the arrest.
Evans lawfully entered the United States Sept. 24, 2023, at the Miami International Airport. However, he was supposed to depart the U.S. October 1, 2023. He never boarded the flight, ultimately turning his lawful admission into a visa overstay and making him subject to deportation.
Jamaican citizens need a visa to enter the U.S., whether the purpose of the trip is tourism or work.
According to Chard, the Old Orchard Beach Police Department was notified that Evans was legally permitted to work in the U.S., and his I-766 Employment Authorization Document was not set to expire until March 2030.
The National Review reported the department learned about Evans’ ICE detainment through an ICE news release.
“As part of the hiring process, the Town reviewed multiple forms of identification, including photo identification, and submitted Evans’ I-9 form to the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify Program,” Chard’s statement said.
E-Verify, which is run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of DHS, compares information from the employee’s Form I-9 against records available from DHS and the Social Security Administration.
E-Verify insists it has a high rate of accuracy — that more than 98% of workers who it checks are confirmed as “work authorized” within 24 hours.
Based on recent reports, it’s a flawed system. Immigration raids have revealed loopholes with the government tool used to verify workers, particularly if they submit fraudulent documents or use a stolen social security number, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Participating companies are protected from legal penalties. But using E-Verify can also provide a false sense of security, as some employers have discovered during surprise immigration raids.
E-Verify doesn’t use biometric evidence or, in many cases, a photo to confirm a new hire’s identity. The system matches names to Social Security numbers, but it has limited access to many other official databases with personal information, The National Review reported.
And it doesn’t verify that the name, date of birth, and Social Security number provided by the applicant belong to the applicant, making it relatively easy to circumvent the system with a stolen Social Security number and fake driver’s license, according to current and former officials, congressional staffers, and cybersecurity experts.
Meanwhile, several states, including Colorado, Vermont and West Virginia, do not require that police officers be U.S. citizens. This means a green-card holder or legal permanent resident can become a police officer.
In California, that’s not even required after a 2023 amendment that eliminated U.S. citizenship or permanent residency for police. Instead, the state now mandates that peace officers must merely be “legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law.”
Several states also allow DACA recipients to join local police forces, including California, Illinois, Mississippi and Washington. DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — is a strange status, protecting the individual from being deported to their country of birth, The National Review reported.
However, “Deferred action does not confer lawful immigration status upon an individual, nor does it excuse any previous or subsequent periods of unlawful presence they may have,” according to USCIS.
New Mexico changed its law in April of this year, allowing DACA recipients to join the police force. “It literally turns dreamers into defenders, and this is something that could not have been done without a state law change,” Tim Keller, the mayor of Albuquerque, told KOB 4 News.
But many DACA recipients who want to serve as police officers run into roadblocks. They are generally barred from purchasing or owning a firearm under federal law since they are not considered lawfully present in the United States.
Some states, such as Colorado, allow DACA recipients to possess firearms in certain instances.
Fox News profiled Edgar Vasquez Silva, a DACA recipient who is a deputy for the Stone County Sheriff’s Office in Mississippi. Silva’s status limits his patrol duties because, due to his non-citizen status and state law, he can’t carry a firearm.
He contributes in other ways and serves as a bridge between officers and the Hispanic communities that are fearful of police. Silva’s story is about patriotism, service, and deep faith in the country he calls home.
“This country gives us everything we need to live free,” Silva told Fox News. “No other country does what we do. You work and get paid for what you earn. People born here should be really proud.”
