A contentious dispute continues between Old Orchard Beach Police and the federal government over the hiring of an illegal immigrant now in ICE custody.
ICE has strongly criticized the department for hiring Jamaican national Jon Luke Evans, saying police relied too heavily on the E-Verify system and failed in their due diligence.
Old Orchard Beach Police fired back late Wednesday, stating that they conducted an extensive vetting of Evans and have released a 54-page personnel file on him.
The town and police say blame is unfairly being shifted on them for a failure in the system.
“Simply stated, had the federal government flagged his information the Town would not have hired Mr. Evans,” said Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard. “Any insinuation that the Town and Department were derelict in our efforts to verify Mr. Evans’ eligibility to work for the Town is false and appears to be an attempt to shift the blame onto a hard-working local law enforcement agency that has done its job.”
Old Orchard Beach Police say Evans also provided the following documents to itd Human Resources department:
Jamaican birth certificate
Massachusetts driver’s license
Jamaican passport
U.S. Social Security card
U.S. Work Authorization (Employment Authorization Document) Card
Proof of college credit
The town says it used its standard hiring policies and procedures, which include:
- Checking Maine criminal history databases
- Checking the Interstate Identification Index, a national index of state and federal
criminal histories that is maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) - Confirming Evans held a valid driver’s license and proof of insurance
- Checking professional and personal references
Evans was hired as a seasonal officer earlier this year in Old Orchard Beach.
