A corrections officer with the Cumberland County Jail was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, county officials confirmed Monday.

The circumstances of the arrest, including when and where it occurred, are unclear. County Manager James Gailey confirmed the officer was off duty at the time they were detained by ICE and no longer works for the jail.

Gailey and Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce refused to provide details about the now-former employee, including their name and how long they had worked for the county. Both directed questions about the arrest to ICE. A spokesperson for the federal agency said they needed more details, including the person’s name and date they were detained, to provide information about the arrest.

It’s unclear if the person is still in ICE custody.

The arrest comes amid ongoing tensions between the sheriff’s office and federal officials and at a time when the county has seen an increase in immigrants applying to work for the jail.

Joyce said in an interview earlier this month that the county had hired more than 20 immigrants over the past year to work as corrections officers.

He said that became possible because prospective jail employees are no longer required to take English reading and writing comprehension tests. That made it easier for people who speak English as a second language to be certified by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and apply to work in facilities like the jail, Joyce said.

Though the county must confirm that its employees are legally authorized to work in the United States, he said it does not keep tabs on immigration statuses.

The increase in applicants has helped the jail fill some of its 70-plus vacancies. Not every immigrant hired since the academy’s requirements changed is still working at the jail, officials said.

Officials from the National Correctional Employees Union, which represents most of the jail’s corrections staff, have said they are still concerned about staffing levels, despite recent hires.

Bill Doyle, the executive director of the union, said he can’t confirm whether the officer who was arrested was a member of the union. He said some bargaining unit members are broadly concerned that staff could be at risk of ICE detention.

The union had filed a complaint with the state’s labor relations board against the county and jail leadership for reinstating a contract with federal officials that nets the jail $150 per day to hold suspects for the U.S. Marshals Service and ICE.

In the complaint, employees alleged that allowing the federal inmates to come back, after the jail had lost the contract in 2022 due to staffing shortages, unfairly puts stress on staff. The decision from the labor relations board was still pending as of Monday.

Since then, Cumberland County leadership has received notices from the Department of Homeland Security and advisers to President Donald Trump, warning the county that its agreement with ICE is still insufficient — though it’s unclear exactly how the jail may be out of compliance with federal immigration law.

Joyce has maintained that the sheriff’s office does not run a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, but said he will not allow his deputies to act as ICE agents.