Former corrections officer in ICE custody at New Hampshire jail
Milandou-Wamba worked as a corrections officer for the county for eight months before he was taken into ICE custody and left his position on May 31.
By Cate McCusker
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PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) — A former Maine corrections officer who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement two months ago remains in the agency’s custody.
Gratien Milandou-Wamba, 32, of the Republic of Congo, was still being held at the Strafford County Department of Corrections, a jail in Dover, New Hampshire, as of Friday morning.
ICE confirmed to Maine’s Total Coverage on Friday that Milandou-Wamba was arrested April 19 in Falmouth by officers from ICE Boston’s Scarborough field office.
According to ICE, Milandou-Wamba lawfully entered the United States on May 29, 2023, on a nonimmigrant visitor’s visa.
Milandou-Wamba fled torture and persecution in his home country, according to his attorney, Wade McCall. McCall also said Milandou-Wamba then obtained a work permit and was applying for asylum status when he began working as a Cumberland County corrections officer in August 2024.
ICE officials said, however, that Milandou-Wamba violated the terms of his lawful admission to the United States when he failed to leave the country when his visa expired.
“That’s the visa that ran out when he was already here and after he had already applied for asylum,” McCall said. “You have to keep your visa up to date regardless of any of that, and he had failed to do so. He didn’t think he had to.”
According to ICE, Milandou-Wamba attempted to unlawfully purchase a gun in September 2024, which is when McCall believes immigration authorities may have picked up on his undocumented status.
“As a result of interactions that he had had with inmates at his job, he had begun to have fear for his safety while he wasn’t at work, and so someone suggested getting a gun,” McCall said. “That’s when he filled out this application, and the application put up some red flags. Then that, together with his visa problems, resulted in his detention.”
McCall said Milandou-Wamba was driving to work at the Cumberland County Jail on April 19 when he was pulled over and taken into ICE custody.
“Driving to work one day in a sheriff’s uniform, he was stopped by two officers in an unmarked car,” said Milandou-Wamba’s friend and landlord, Tyler Brinkmann. “They had their badges on their belts and they said: ‘You’re coming with us.'”
Brinkmann described Milandou-Wamba as a kind and gentle man.
“He was in a church group,” Brinkmann said. “He was involved in the community. I have nothing but great things to say about his character.”
Brinkmann is working to help Milandou-Wamba through the legal process, preparing for an asylum hearing in October, but he says it has been difficult.
“The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office gave him a job as a corrections officer, and then the government turns around and puts him in a cage,” Brinkmann said. “It’s a very difficult process for us, and we’re looking for a solution, but I just don’t know what that’s going to be.
“He’s not doing well,” Brinkmann added. “He has a lot of stress. He’s not sleeping at night. He can’t eat all the time. He’s afraid for his life if he gets deported and sent back to his homeland.”
Cumberland County Manager Jim Gailey had told Maine’s Total Coverage on Tuesday that the corrections officer who was detained by ICE had proper work documentation and that he was off duty when he was taken into custody. Gailey also said this individual was hired on Aug. 5, 2024, and left his position with the county on May 31.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the corrections officer Gailey referred to was Milandou-Wamba.
On Monday, dozens of Cumberland County residents attended the county’s Board of Commissioners meeting and called for county officials to stop working with ICE.
Joyce has said an agreement to hold ICE inmates at the county jail has been in place for decades.
During the Board of Commissioners meeting, Joyce said the Cumberland County Jail was holding 93 federal inmates as of Monday, including 60 who were being detained by ICE.
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