HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Angolan bank worker arrested by ICE in Lewiston parking lot, judge blocks removal

Sep 4, 2026·Location: Lewiston, ME

Country of origin: Angola

Angolan bank worker arrested by ICE in Lewiston parking lot, judge blocks removal
Photo via sunjournal.com

Adnero Pinto Sebastiao, an Angolan national with a pending asylum application, was arrested by ICE agents as he returned from lunch to his job at a bank in the Lewiston area. He had entered the U.S. legally on a tourist visa in March 2024 before applying for asylum, and his immigration case remains pending. His attorneys filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus arguing the detention was an unlawful warrantless arrest lacking individualized assessment. A federal judge issued an indefinite injunction barring ICE from removing him from the U.S. or transferring him out of the District of Maine, and ordered the government to justify the detention. A DHS spokesperson said Sebastiao overstayed his visa and that a pending asylum application does not confer legal status.

Suggest a correction, comment, or update

Sources

More incidents in Maine