A total of 30 inmates at Cumberland County Jail have booking records that indicate that they were either arrested by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or are subject to a federal hold by ICE, indicating that the agency suspects the inmate of being an illegal alien.
Three out of those 30 inmates are also facing state charges for domestic violence assault, terrorizing, criminal trespass and assault on a police officer, among other charges.
[RELATED: Maine ACLU Lawyer Likens ICE to Nazi Germany, Urges State to Block Illegal Immigrant Deportations…]
President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office next month with a promise of carrying out mass deportations, beginning with criminal aliens, gang members and violent offenders in the country illegally.
Trump’s incoming “border czar,” former acting director of ICE Tom Homan, has said in recent interviews that the administration “will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first and that’s what the focus would be.”
“There’s thousands of gang members, illegal alien gang members we’re going to be looking for. Now, I’m going to say if you’re in the country illegally, you shouldn’t feel comfortable, absolutely not. I won’t feel comfortable,” Homan said on Fox News’ “Hannity” program on Nov. 11.
The Maine Wire recently began searching through booking records at Cumberland County Jail in order to determine how many inmates at the jail are subject to immigration detainers, who may be eligible for removal under the incoming Trump administration.
ICE lodges immigration detainers against unlawfully present noncitizens who have been arrested on criminal charges and who the agency has probable cause to believe are deportable from the U.S.
Booking records at the jail, rather than indicating clearly whether an inmate is on an ICE hold, typically gives inmates a general classification of “INS” — referring to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which split into ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2003.
An administrator at Cumberland County Jail told the Maine Wire that when an inmate at Cumberland County Jail has a judicial status of “INS” in their booking records, this indicates that the inmate is in the custody of ICE.
Typically, this judicial status would mean that the inmate is in ongoing removal or other immigration proceedings, or is subject to an ICE immigration detainer.
When the arresting agency is listed as INS, this means that ICE was the agency that brought the inmate to the jail, for some sort of federal hold.
While this federal hold could be for an immigration offense, it could also be a hold for U.S. Marshals, DEA, or any other federal law enforcement agency on a non-immigration related federal charge.
When there are other state charges filed in addition to an INS federal hold, this likely means that ICE has lodged an immigration detainer against that inmate, indicating that the agency suspects that inmate to be an illegal alien, and due to their local charges may potentially be processed for removal from the U.S. (deportation).
That status applies to three out of the 30 inmates at the jail, who are facing state criminal charges in addition to now being in ICE custody:
- Eyidi Ambila, 43, arrested May 21, 2024 by Portland PD for criminal trespass, terrorizing, domestic violence assault; INS judicial status;
- Alvaro Leta, 21, arrested Sept. 27, 2024 by Scarborough PD for domestic violence assault; INS judicial status;
- Luis Molina-Moralez, 28, arrested Oct. 27, 2023 by Portland PD for assault on an officer, refusing to submit to arrest, disorderly conduct (fighting); INS judicial status.
A fourth inmate, 32-year-old Axel Monzon Nicolas, was arrested by South Portland Police on Sept. 26, 2024, for assault, criminal restraint and three counts of unlawful sexual contact (fondling).
While booking records indicate that Monzon Nicolas is now in custody on a federal hold, it is unclear whether ICE is the agency behind the hold.
The Maine Wire reported in August that ICE had designated Cumberland County Jail as being in “limited cooperation” with the agency and their detainers.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce has said that while it has been his policy not to comply with ICE detainers since 2017, the jail regularly holds inmates of ICE.
“We work very well with ICE and we hold their inmates on a routine basis,” Joyce told the Maine Wire in August.
“We stopped honoring detainers in 2017, when I learned that several jails and Sheriffs in the United States had been sued civilly by individuals who had been held on a detainer for ICE, but were either in the US legally, or ICE had never advised the Sheriff or Jail that the individual was free to go,” Joyce added. “This sets the Sheriff and his jail up for false imprisonment allegations for holding the individual beyond his/her release date.”
In order to avoid the potential false imprisonment allegations, Joyce has ICE agents come to the jail to arrest the inmate themselves to ensure the agency has probable cause for taking that inmate into custody.
Cumberland County District Attorney Jackie Sartoris has pointed to a lack of staffing at the jail, in addition to a backlog of cases and issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic as top reasons for the “relatively lower enforcement” of crimes.
Below is a full list of the inmates currently at Cumberland County Jail (as of Dec. 17, 2024) who have been arrested by ICE/INS, are subject to a federal hold by ICE, or have a judicial status of INS:
- Sumbo, Cristiano Manuel; DOB 10/12/1991; Arrested 12/13/2024 by INS
- Mendez-Feliz, Ricky; DOB 06/21/1999; Arrested 11/26/2024 by INS
- Villeda-Martinez, Sandy; DOB 04/24/1989; Arrested 11/22/2024 by INS
- Vacecela Tamay, Luis; DOB 08/28/1992; Arrested 9/26/2024 by South Portland PD, federal INS hold
- Tinoco Diaz, Javier; DOB 06/03/1999; Arrested 12/04/2024 by INS
- Monzon Nicolas, Axel, DOB 01/07/1992; Arrested 11/26/2024 by South Portland PD, federal hold (not specified as INS)
- Assault, criminal restraint, three counts unlawful sexual contact (fondling)
- Slelmani-Pongo, Olivier; DOB 03/14/1985; Arrested 11/20/2024 by INS
- Alvarez Builes, Sebastian; DOB 02/21/2002; Arrested 11/19/2024 by INS
- Villasmil-Castellano, Karla; DOB 01/11/2002; Arrested 11/06/2024 by INS
- Hilario Paulino, Alfonso; DOB 12/09/1964; Arrested 11/01/2024 by INS
- Fevrier, Wolf; DOB 09/08/1977; Arrested 10/31/2024 by INS
- Hernandez Ortez, Selvin; DOB 07/13/1993; Arrested 10/31/2024 by INS
- Kunamp Castro, Jose; DOB 07/24/1983; Arrested 10/31/2024 by INS
- Da Veiga, Carlos; DOB 02/03/1990; Arrested 10/24/2024 by INS
- Resende, Jaime; DOB 10/09/1984; Arrested 10/24/2024 by INS
- Martinez De La Cruz, Stefany; DOB 08/03/1995; Arrested 10/22/2024 by INS
- Labrador Torrealba, Daleivis; DOB 01/08/1996; Arrested 10/22/2024 by INS
- Aguilar-Vichez, Melani; DOB 06/07/2003; Arrested 10/17/2024 by INS
- Andrews, Kerron; DOB 05/19/1991; Arrested 10/16/2024 by INS
- Duran Flores, Melvin; DOB 01/06/1987; Arrested 10/16/2024 by INS
- Cruz-Olivares, Bryan; DOB 12/01/1998; Arrested 10/16/2024 by INS
- Recinos, Lester; DOB 04/27/2000; Arrested 10/16/2024 by INS
- Metwei, Alaa Eldein; 03/18/1986; Arrested 10/10/2024 by INS
- Czerkawski, Radoslaw; DOB 04/13/1981; Arrested 10/04/2024 by INS
- Leta, Alvaro; DOB 07/29/2002; Arrested 09/27/2024 by Scarborough PD, federal hold/INS judicial status
- domestic violence assault
- Hernandez Rodriguez, Julio; DOB 07/12/1996; Arrested 09/27/2024 by ICE, federal hold/INS judicial status
- Chavez-Chavez, Marlon; DOB 11/15/1998; Arrested 09/27/2024 by ICE, federal hold/INS judicial status
- Mango, Mwinyi Abdallah; DOB 02/05/1983; Arrested 09/10/2024, INS judicial status
- Ambila, Eyidi; DOB 07/02/1981; Arrested 05/21/2024 by Portland PD, INS judicial status
- criminal trespass, terrorizing, domestic violence assault
- Molina-Moralez, Luis; DOB 10/14/1996; Arrested 10/27/2023 by Portland PD, INS judicial status
- Assault on an officer, refusing to submit to arrest, disorderly conduct (fighting)
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="32965 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=32965">10 Comments
Jackie Sartoris — none of them would be in a US jail if Joe and his Democratic friend did not open the boarders. What did Soris tell you to say.?
I am glad to look into who placed each of Joe’s pardon on the list.
I would who suggested judges who put kids in jail, so the judge gets a payoff, who suggested a chines child pornographer be pardoned, a chines spy be let off.
And all the local who back Biden. None are speaking up, the scum!
We see this Moring that Colorado also has a dumb democratic governor.
A few months ago, he said they had no illegal immigrant problem, and then the fingernails were pulled out of one of his citizens. Is Portland next?
Go Tommy Go
all illegal aliens are criminals! If you entered the US illegally, you committed a crime, therefore you are a criminal! Great way to start anew as a criminal!
Enforce the law!! Deering Oaks is a a no go zone now, needles everywhere, layabouts destroyed the park, Park Ave has been taken over by addict! Thankfully Homan is on his way to Portland!
Thank YOU ICE.. More to come Hopefully
Take them all to Fitzpatrick Stadium for a Mass execution …Keep killing them and they will stop coming.
I wonder what Maine will be like when they deport all the non-citizens.
Not factoring in crimes of assault, rape, murder, theft or terrorist activity:
“The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has done a great job. Studies suggest this cost is upwards of $400 billion, but their cost estimate is $150 billion. The lion’s share of that cost is borne by state and local governments. State and local governments can’t borrow or print money like the federal government, so they have to balance their budgets by either absorbing this cost through raising taxes or they have to cut services to their citizens.”