The town’s police chief, Elise Chard, said recent public remarks Homeland Security officials criticizing her department “appears to be an attempt to shift the blame onto a hard-working local law enforcement agency that has done its job.

ICE says that Jon Luke Evans is in the US illegally, and broke the law when he tried to purchase a gun. But the Old Orchard Beach police chief says Evans' legal status was verified by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

ICE accused the police department in Old Orchard Beach of “knowingly” hiring an immigrant who is in the country illegally, which the police chief denied.