Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson is demanding the release of a Maine Medical Center nurse from Zambia after she was detained by ICE on Thursday at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
ICE says she entered the country on a visa but failed to depart before it expired.
[RELATED: Biddeford Council President Calls For Removing Memorial To ICE Shooting Victim’s Killing…]
“I’ve learned through my union brothers and sisters at the Maine State Nurses Association that one of their colleagues, Debora Kapisha, has been detained by ICE,” said Jackson.
“I join the Maine State Nurses Association in demanding Debora’s immediate release from ICE detention, and I call on the Maine Medical Center to take immediate steps to formally sponsor her for permanent residency,” he added.
The nurses’ union revealed the situation on Tuesday and urged people to attend a planned protest outside the Maine Medical Center on Wednesday morning.
Jackson also encouraged people to attend, but did not show up at the protest himself because he allegedly has COVID.
During the protest, multiple nurses spoke, demanding Kapisha’s release, calling for ICE’s abolishment, yelling and swearing about Susan Collins, and reading a letter ostensibly written by her family.
While Jackson was absent, other politicians and candidates, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree; Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland), who has ties to healthcare fraud through Gateway Community Services; and Portland City Councilor Wes Pelletier, were present.
Pingree spoke briefly and initiated a chant of “ICE Out.”
The nurses identified the detainee as an asylum seeker from Zambia. They claimed that she was legally authorized to live and work in the U.S. while her asylum case was being adjudicated. That claim was disputed by ICE.
The nurses explained that she was traveling through Logan Airport when she was detained by ICE and taken to a holding facility in Massachusetts. They claimed that ICE plans to move her to a facility in Louisiana.
Though Kapisha does appear in ICE detainee records, the records do not specify where she is being held.
The Maine Wire reached out to ICE, which explained the reason for Kapisha’s detention.
“Kapisha entered our country on May 14, 2024, on a visa that was set to expire on November 13, 2024. She failed to depart before this date in violation of our nation’s immigration laws. She will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of her removal proceedings. She will receive full due process,” they said.
ICE added that a pending asylum application does not grant legal status.
“Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App,” they added.
The nurses’ union is coordinating with Kapisha’s attorneys to push for her release and to prevent her from being transferred.
The union is also demanding that the Maine Medical Center sponsor Kapisha’s bid for permanent resident status.
“Since ICE began kidnapping Black and brown people and terrorizing our communities, National Nurses United has called it out as an illegitimate, violent, paramilitary organization that must be promptly abolished,” said the union in its statement.
Jackson also used the incident to accuse ICE of racially motivated targeting and call for its total abolishment.
According to state licensing records, Kapisha has maintained a license as a registered nurse since June 2025 and has faced no disciplinary action.
Why did not her employer stay on top of this. Hospital leadership is also compliant. Poorly done leadership, especially for high paid leadership!
The law is the law!! Remember no one is above the law…liberals should know
this, they’ve had it as their mantra for quite some time!!
No one is above the law, and Troy used to protest illegals taking US jobs.
No one bothered to a background check?
The state says:”State and FBI criminal background checks (CBCs) are required for all applicants for initial licensure and licensure by endorsement, including applicants for multistate licensure pursuant to M.R.S. Title 32, chapter 31, subchapter 2-A.”
This includes fingerprints, just like with teachers, so how does someone who is not supposed even be in the country pass an FBI background check? Doesn’t the FBI even bother to check to see if she’s on the list of people who aren’t supposed to be here?
Or did the State of Maine not bother to require a background check on her?
And then how did Maine Med fill out the I-9 form to hire her? Or did they not bother?
Either way there should be some legal liability for them here.
And then what was she using for “Real ID” to get into Logan Airport?
Does she somehow have a “Real ID” Maine drivers license? If so, how did she get it?!?
Hopefully she doesn’t have a US passport, I doubt she was using her Zambian one, so what was she using as ID to even get into Logan?
There are an awful lot of questions that need to be asked, there are a lot of other people with questions to answer.
She has already been in our country almost two yrs linger than allowed. Perhaps the loudspeakers protesting like the walking umbrella Dulaq an Pinhead Pingree should know our immigration laws before they start screeching on behalf of someone here in an expired visa. Troy Jackson? He campaigns on how he protested previously on foreigners involved in Maine logging industry yet now supports illegals who are FOREIGNERS LOL! People should already have figured out Jacksons elevator dosent go to the top since he is married to his cousin, say what ya will but that just aint normal.. Smh lol
Maine is mostly woke, democratic, leftist liberals, who are uneducated (including the poiticians) and think they are above the law. They all need a cup of Jim Jones kool-aid.
KEEP ICE IN MAINE!
KEEP ICE IN MAINE!
KEEP.ICE IN MAINE
How about instead of demanding that ICE doesn’t do their job, you demand that congress change the laws. The laws pertaining to this case have been on the books for many decades. If you overstay your visa you are deportable. No one seemed to care for years, now for some reason folks want to be immigration experts. ICE Agents swore to uphold the laws. Activists don’t get to decide which ones.
It looks like Janet’s wet dream of replacing Maines medical system with illegals is already on the horizon. During the COVID scam if American Nurses didn’t get the experimental jab you lost your job in the medical field.
What there’s no American nurses that want or need that job that’s being stolen here.
She over stayed her visa and didn’t even try to get an extension if that’s even a possibility.
So the verdict is in she is Guilty of over staying her visa.
Deport her end of story.
Politicians need to stop defending illegals they broke the law. Now they have to pay for it.
highly unlikely to stop and have a Grand Ceremony every time some uneducated (on immigration laws and remedies) illegal immigrant gets stopped on a DEPORTATION Order,another two year old Deportation order, which she knew about. If white Caucasian Americans get 2nd chance “due process” where is it? This isn’t fair, if I as a Caucasian were to commit a similar crime,I don’t get 2 to 3 chances to say I’m sorry,that’s not fair and all the other Discrimination and racism crap you always play as your hand when CAUGHT. Caught being an Illegal immigrant warranting Deportation Orders. I’m calling this unequal rights for White American males and we don’t get in your face spitting and yelling like the Radical Liberals from Somalia do! As an American born and raised I’m starting to get real f,,,king pissed off about the double standards the Somalian Crime Gangs get,then laugh because our supposed leaders are just as crooked as they are in State of Maine. Start perp walking these pigs….or the Natives and their shotguns may get restless.
So was she coming back from Africa? Why was she going there,is she stealing Medicine from her job to bring to her Somalian buddies in Africa or meet somewhere like Dubai to hand them off. How many times have they watched her do this? There is something fishy about this one. This is a runner for the Somalians but she is stealing something to give to them. Why didn’t she go through the proper channels to be legal?
If the Unions hiring standards are to hire illegals first instead of hiring Americans because of their I don’t care policy then we should abolish the Unions.
Did you hear Troy doesn’t have Covid!
He’s home having sum young cousin for dinner tonite!
I’m sure she is a very nice person, most nurses are. But she is a scoff law and the law cannot just be ignored, and any Politian that wants you to ignore the law, doesn’t deserve to be elected
She entered in May of 2024 over stayed her visa ok.
According to state licensing records, Kapisha has maintained a license as a registered nurse since June 2025 and has faced no disciplinary action.
I thought to be a registered nurse you had to take a minimum of two years of college or even a four year course.
How did she become a registered nurse in less than 2 years? From May 2024 to June 2025 is only 14 months. Or 1 year and 2 months 10 months short of the time it takes an American to become a registered nurse.
Sounds like Mills is running a shady nursing factory.
Bottom line. Maine Health allowed this by not verifying her immigration status. Take a good guess how many others are working at Maine Health in all positions, lots and lots. At one point when ICE was doing catch of the day, Maine Health had people work from home to avoid traveling and running into ICE. Maine Health needs to be investigated by ICE.
My question is: did she come with a foreign nursing license and pass NCLEX-RN? And since according to article appears did not apply and get appropriate VISA – how was she hired? Or could it be she benefited from TANF and tax payer funding for her US schooling.
Has the person who OK her hiring been interviewed?
How meany more Mr. Speaker?
“…did she come with a foreign nursing license and pass NCLEX-RN?”
I was thinking the same thing, with one more addition to that. If no one noticed the fact that she wasn’t allowed to be in the country, did anybody bother to check and make sure that her Zambian nursing license hadn’t been suspended or revoked?!?
And how did the FBI do a background check on her in Zambia without also checking how she went from Zambia to Maine? They have computers, if you’re here legally, there are records of that — if you aren’t, there are records of that as well…
The FBI has a lot to answer for here — they did a background investigation on her and approved her to work in this country even though they knew (or should’ve known) that she wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place.
This isn’t just something like a landscaping company hiring somebody they’re not supposed to, the FBI approved her to be employed as a nurse in Maine when she WASN’T SUPPOSED TO EVEN *BE* IN MAINE!!!!!
And then the other question is what ID did she use to get into Logan Airport? Does she have a Maine-issued “Real ID”?
“I join union nurses in calling for Debora Kapisha’s immediate release from ICE detention. ” said Troy. Well Troy she broke the law!!! But you are a Democrat, so it does not mean anything.
Same as Biddeford officials.
asylum seeker–Just another term used too much, like Natz.
Means nothing–read the law!!!
To show solidarity with the Zambian nurse, l think that some of her supporters should move to Zambia! And then defy orders to leave the country after they’ve overstayed their welcome!
To show solidarity with the Zambian nurse, l think that some of her supporters should move to Zambia! And then defy orders to leave the country after they’ve overstayed their visas!
Illegal is ILLEGAL, she can come back LEGALLY
If she’s smart enough to be a nurse she’s smart enough to know the law and follow it. Otherwise pay the consequences for breaking it. Pretty simple.
Why would someone legitimately seeking asylum travel back to the country from which they sought asylum ?
Hey Troy don’t you have a cousin to knock up? Run along now.
One or a few illegal aliens may not seem like a threat. The reality of 10s of millions of them invading our homeland represents a threat to public safety and cost to American Taxpayers that already amounts to trillions of dollars!
ICE must continue to rid our homeland of the 10s of millions of parasitic savages imported by the Democrats (communists) !
So, I’ve got a novel idea to help people here out. How about reading the article and maybe checking out at least one non race baiting click bait story on the Wire. The person —whose race should not matter if this is just about the law—is authorized to work in the US while seeking asylum. That is the law and why she has already been released from custody. This is someone working in a field where we desperately need qualified workers, someone who is paying taxes and by all measures adding value, not displacing workers, not taking advantage of public services. The absolute hate on these pages is very discouraging. We are a nation of immigrants-literally. This is exactly what happened with the shooting in Biddeford. Readers here celebrated the killing with all sort of horrible accusations and outright lies. These are peoples lives that ice is destroying. Yes, enforce immigration laws, no problem but these two recent examples show how incompetent ICE is. This administration is built on nepotism and loyalty. I challenge you to name one person in the Trump administration who is truly the best (most qualified and experienced) for their job. Sec of Education (WWE);Pete Hegseth? Kash?, Homeland Security Sec Mullins didn’t even go to college and inherited a plumbing business….incompetence top to bottom
With all discussion here of “the law” it is good to know that the law states that if you apply for asylum you can get a work permit (and ssn) while your case is pending. You need to check in with your caseworker. The issued work permit is valid for five years. Current admin trying to change this ( now 18 month permit) and often just throwing the cases out though legally many of their actions have been reversed…so yes the law is still the law….