ICE Arrests Illegal Corrections Officer in Maine
A corrections officer in Maine's Cumberland County Jail was arrested by ICE after more than a decade of overstaying his visa, exposing a nationwide pattern of systemic failures in federal employment verification.
Billy Maclarant Bassikissa Bounguiena spent nearly two years locking up inmates at Maine's Cumberland County Jail. He passed background checks, held work authorization through 2030, and logged 40 to 70 hours per week. All the while, he had overstayed his student visa by more than a decade. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him June 9 at his South Portland home, exposing a systemic failure that repeats across multiple states.
Bounguiena entered the United States on Nov. 15, 2015, on an F-1 student visa that expired Dec. 4 of that year. He was scheduled to depart in 2017 but never boarded his flight, according to law enforcement sources. DHS confirmed he entered on an F-1 visa expiring Dec. 4, 2015, and "refused to depart the country, in violation of our laws." Despite his illegal status, he passed Cumberland County's "comprehensive background screening and rigorous vetting process" when hired in August 2024.
This case is part of a documented, nationwide pattern of illegal immigrants being hired for corrections and law enforcement positions. The violations have occurred in Maine, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Washington, and Louisiana. Each individual passed the federal E-Verify system and standard background checks. The cases follow the same arc: an entrant arrives on a visa that expires, remains in the country illegally, passes an employment verification system that does not flag the violation, and is subsequently arrested by ICE. The pattern underscores why mandatory, real-time E-Verify is critical for public safety in government positions. It also reveals why sanctuary jurisdictions that obstruct federal enforcement only worsen the problem.
Sheriff Kevin Joyce described Bounguiena as "a valued member of our team, with no discipline issues" who "demonstrated dedication to his duties and often works overtime." DHS confirmed the Congolese national had overstayed his visa since 2015. "He refused to depart the country, in violation of our laws," a DHS spokesperson said. "This criminal illegal alien will remain in ICE custody, pending removal proceedings."
The federal E-Verify system has a documented structural gap. Launched in 1996 and mandatory in about 23 states, the program does not automatically notify employers if work authorization is revoked after verification. A 2021 Office of Inspector General review concluded E-Verify "cannot ensure the system provides accurate employment eligibility results" until USCIS addresses shortcomings.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Old Orchard Beach's reliance on E-Verify "reckless" when reserve officer Jon Luke Evans — who also passed E-Verify with work authorization through 2030 — was found to have overstayed his visa.
The same pattern appears nationwide. Radule Bojovic, a sworn police officer with Hanover Park Police Department in Illinois, entered on a tourist visa that expired March 31, 2015. He remained illegally for over a decade, passed E-Verify and ATF firearm clearance, and earned $205,707 in 2025, including $9,276 in FICA and Medicare taxes, before his October 2025 arrest.
Selah Dine Habib, a corrections officer at Jay County Jail in Indiana, entered illegally in March 2023, allegedly submitted a fraudulent asylum claim, passed E-Verify, and was arrested May 21, 2026. Ibrahim George Kallon, a Sierra Leone national whose visa expired in 2024, was training to be a corrections officer at Delaware County Prison in Pennsylvania when ICE arrested him Feb. 11, 2026, on charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and sexual assault.
Morris Brown, a 45-year-old Liberian national, worked as a corrections officer for the Minnesota Department of Corrections and falsely claimed U.S. citizenship in official documents before his Jan. 15, 2026, arrest. A King County, Washington whistleblower alleged in August 2025 that more than 100 corrections officers were hired with expired or temporary work visas. A New Orleans Police Department recruit passed E-Verify and had a valid Social Security number before ICE arrested him in January 2026 after an immigration judge had already signed a removal order.
Both Old Orchard Beach and Hanover Park — the jurisdictions where Evans and Bojovic were arrested — are considered sanctuary jurisdictions. ICE's Operation Midway Blitz in Illinois specifically targets illegal immigrants in the state "because of the state's sanctuary policies." DHS removed all detainees from Cumberland County Jail in January 2026 after Sheriff Joyce criticized ICE's tactics, costing the county approximately $2.3 million in annual revenue and potentially requiring a 14 percent tax increase.
Local officials defended their hiring practices. District Attorney Jacqueline Sartoris called ICE's characterization of a 2019 domestic violence arrest involving Bounguiena — which resulted in no charges and no physical contact — "a lie that will not hold up in court." Sheriff Joyce stated Bounguiena had "valid work authorization and no criminal history."
DHS confirmed Bounguiena had overstayed his visa by more than a decade. ICE confirmed he was arrested by Portland police in March 2019 for domestic violence assault. The sheriff's own statement that Bounguiena had "no criminal history" is contradicted by police records and the DA's own acknowledgment of the arrest.
ICE arrested 245 people in Maine in 2026 through March. In January's "Operation Catch of the Day," ICE detained approximately 200 people in five days in southern Maine. Federal data released March 31, 2026, showed only 11 of those detainees had criminal convictions. Roughly 80 percent were detained only on immigration violations. ICE set a goal of 400,000 immigration-related arrests per year and 1 million deportations annually. Sanctuary jurisdictions declined to comply with ICE detainers for 17,864 individuals in 2025.
Bounguiena remains held at Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island pending removal proceedings. The case demonstrates that the federal employment verification system is structurally incapable of preventing illegal immigrants from securing positions of trust in government correctional facilities. That security gap leaves local agencies powerless to close it on their own.