Sheriff revokes ICE support as 'squeaky clean' recruit is detained
Story by David Edwards, Rawstory, January 23, 2026
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce revoked his support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations after one of his correctional officer recruits was detained.
In a Wednesday evening press conference, Joyce blasted ICE's handling of the recruit's detention in Portland, Maine.
"They all took off, leaving his car with the windows down, the lights on, unsecured and unoccupied," the sheriff explained. "They left it right on the side of the street. Folks, that's bush league policing."
"This was a show of force, a show of whatever they were trying to do with seven people," he continued.
Joyce said he had initially been supportive of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, but that changed after the way ICE detained the recruit.
"We're being told one story, which is totally different than what's occurring or what occurred last night," he insisted, calling the correctional recruit "squeaky clean."
"I guess if you're not the card-carrying U.S. citizen, then you must be illegal because that's what they told me is he's illegal, and he's definitely not a criminal," Joyce added.
Sheriff revokes ICE support as 'squeaky clean' recruit is detained
The chief executive and his agency and department heads set the example. Everyone underneath follows that example as well as the MAGA followers. The officers know that their lying will be backed up by their superiors who have even more at stake.
Footage, documents at odds with DHS accounts of immigration enforcement incidents • Minnesota Reformer |
