Sheriff questions detention of Maine corrections recruit (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I'm a corrections officer at work in Cumberland County.

[00:00:03] Speaker 2: Video shows what appears to be federal agents detaining a corrections officer recruit in Portland, Maine. In the video, the man tells the agents he's coming from work and that he works for the government. The Cumberland County Sheriff confirmed the unidentified officer's detention during a press conference and says the recruit underwent a vigorous vetting and hiring process. The man is not a U.S. citizen, but his I-9 employment eligibility form indicated he was able to work in the U.S. until April 2029, according to the sheriff.

[00:00:34] Speaker 1: We covered our bases before we hired him. And it's me going out there saying that, you know what, I guess if you're not the card-carrying, you know, 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. So what part of him is illegal? I don't know. Every indication we found is that this was a squeaky clean individual that really hadn't done anything at all.

[00:01:01] Speaker 2: CNN has reached out to DHS for comment, but has not yet received a response. It is not immediately clear if the man is still in federal custody.