Standing outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Scarborough on Tuesday, Dannick Massamba-Bankela was worried.

He told reporters he hadn’t slept for days.

“I’m afraid,” Massamba-Bankela said before going into the facility for an appointment. He clutched a paper bag of medications to his chest while speaking with reporters.

“I’m just here,” he said.

About 30 minutes later, Massamba-Bankela was detained.

He is the fifth known Cumberland County corrections officer to be taken into ICE custody, including an Angolan man who was detained in late August.

Massamba-Bankela arrived in the United States from the Republic of Congo in 2023 and applied for asylum within three months, said Christina Corbaci, his attorney. He has been waiting since then for the immigration court to schedule his interview.

Massamba-Bankela said that when the agency called him on Saturday and ordered him to report to the office, he was aware of other asylum seekers who had been detained there and quickly ushered to facilities out of state. One man, Jonas Manywa, spent more than three weeks in ICE custody after he was detained in August during a routine appointment at the Scarborough facility.

After Massamba-Bankela’s detention on Tuesday, Corbaci called her client courageous.

“He knew exactly what was going to happen today,” she said.

Massamba-Bankela has worked for the Cumberland County Jail for more than a year, according to records obtained from the sheriff’s office. Before that, he was a transportation coordinator for an assisted-living facility in Portland.

Corbaci said they don’t know how long Massamba-Bankela might be in custody, or which facility he will end up in. She said her client’s detention is a “waste of government resources.” She said she planned to quickly file a request for a bond hearing in immigration court and is confident he’ll qualify for release.

During their brief meeting with ICE officers before Massamba-Bankela was detained, Corbaci said the agents agreed to take a stack of records she had prepared, including documents from his asylum case and his strong ties to the community, but that they also indicated the decision was already made.

Corbaci said an agent also told them he had an issue with Massamba-Bankela and other people who are not citizens working as corrections officers.

A spokesperson for ICE did not respond to questions about Massamba-Bankela’s appointment and detention. Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce was not immediately available to comment Tuesday afternoon.

While Massamba-Bankela was inside the Scarborough office, immigrant rights advocates and friends watched from outside.

A friend who asked to be identified only by her first name, Sarah, said she saw immigration officers driving in Massamba-Bankela’s neighborhood and near his home when he was preparing to leave for his appointment Tuesday morning. Fearing that Massamba-Bankela would be apprehended before he could reach the Scarborough office and meet with his lawyer, she and others arranged for him to ride with someone to his appointment.

Massamba-Bankela recalled telling his wife and children, who are still at home, that he loves them.

“I will be back as soon as possible to take care of them,” he said.

Immigrant rights advocates have urged anyone who is afraid they will be detained to make a plan, including finding an attorney and finding support for family members who might be affected by a detainee’s loss of income.