Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce says ICE officials are telling one story about their operation to arrest "the worst of the worst" in Maine, but the reality on the ground is entirely different.
During a press conference Thursday, Joyce confirmed that ICE agents arrested a corrections officer recruit who he described as "squeaky clean."
Joyce declined to name the officer, but he said he underwent a rigorous vetting process, including a background check, before he was hired last year. He said he had no criminal record, was following the rules, and had permission to work in Maine through the spring of 2029.
"I guess if you're not a card carrying US citizen, then you must be illegal," Joyce said. "Because that's what they told me, is he's illegal. And he's definitely not a criminal. So what part of him is illegal? I don't know."
Joyce said roughly a half dozen ICE agents arrested the officer Wednesday night and left his running car unattended on a city street in Portland. He described the arrest as "bush league" and said law enforcement officers would first need probable cause to make an arrest and would never abandon a vehicle in that way.
