On July 25, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from Boston’s Enforcement and Elimination Operations seized Jon Luke Evans, a Jamaican nationwide illegally current within the U.S., after he tried to unlawfully buy a firearm. Evans was serving on the time as a reserve police officer with the Previous Orchard Seaside Police Division.
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On the press release, ICE ERO Boston performing Area Workplace Director Patricia H. Hyde acknowledged:
“Jon Luke Evans not solely broke U.S. immigration regulation, however he additionally illegally tried to buy a firearm. Shockingly, Evans was employed as a neighborhood regulation enforcement officer. The truth that a police division would rent an unlawful alien and unlawfully subject him a firearm whereas on responsibility could be comical if it weren’t so tragic. Now we have a police division that was knowingly breaking the very regulation they’re charged with imposing with a view to make use of an unlawful alien. ICE Boston will proceed to prioritize public security by arresting and eradicating legal alien threats from our New England communities.”
Evans admitted to ICE brokers that the firearm buy try was meant to be used in his function as a police officer—an effort that triggered an ATF alert and led to coordinated arrest efforts.
Evans legally entered the U.S. on September 24, 2023, by means of Miami Worldwide Airport, however violated his visa phrases by failing to depart as scheduled on October 1, 2023.
Previous Orchard Seaside Police officers say Evans was employed in Could 2025 as a seasonal reserve officer and underwent customary checks, together with completion of Type I‑9 and E‑Confirm verification. They declare DHS permitted his employment eligibility on Could 12, 2025, and that his Employment Authorization Doc was legitimate till March 2030.
Police Chief Elise Chard emphasised the division adopted protocol:
“Evans wouldn’t have been permitted to start work… till and until Homeland Safety verified his standing.”
She additionally famous that whereas reserve officers might carry department-issued firearms throughout responsibility, they aren’t allowed to buy or carry private weapons.
ICE pointed to an analogous case in April involving Gratien Milandou Wamba, a 32-year-old Congolese nationwide serving as a corrections officer in Cumberland County, Maine. Milandou Wamba was arrested after allegedly trying to buy a firearm unlawfully whereas within the nation with out legitimate immigration standing.
Milandou Wamba had filed for asylum and obtained a piece allow however overstayed his visa. Like Evans, his arrest got here after a firearm buy triggered an immigration enforcement response.
Evans’s hiring—and the way federal work authorization was granted regardless of his immigration standing—has prompted scrutiny at each the division and federal ranges. ICE mentioned it would proceed to prioritize public security threats in enforcement and removing operations.
In the meantime, the Previous Orchard Seaside Police Division has launched an inner assessment to guage hiring procedures and guarantee compliance with each immigration and public security laws.
