2 min read The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Scarborough in 2023. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer) A Portland resident from Angola who has filed for asylum is asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to explain why he was detained during a routine check-in Tuesday at the field office in Scarborough, according to a court order. A federal judge on Wednesday ordered David Wesling, the acting director of ICE’s Boston field office, to provide a cause for the detainment of Yanick Joao Carneiro by noon the following day, court records show. The decision from U.S. District Judge Stacey Neumann came a day after Carneiro and his attorney filed a formal request for a judge to consider whether he is being jailed unlawfully. Neumann also temporarily ordered that Carneiro not be transferred out of Maine “to provide the Court with a fair opportunity to review the merits of the petition and rule on any contested issues of jurisdiction.” Carneiro has no criminal record to justify an arrest, his lawyer said in court, according to the Bangor Daily News, which first reported the news of his detention. According to the petition, Carneiro entered the country from Angola in April 2023 and is not a United States citizen. The Department of Homeland Security then detained him, according to the petition, but he was subsequently released. Carneiro applied for asylum, according to the ruling, and has a hearing on the matter scheduled for November 2027 in Massachusetts. According to ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System, Carneiro is being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The emergency order for him to remain in Maine was filed late Tuesday night. Carneiro works at a home improvement store and lives in Portland with his wife and has two children who are U.S. citizens, according to court paperwork. Carneiro’s attorney, Amy McGarry of McGarry Law Offices in Kennebunk, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. Spokespeople for ICE and for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine, which is listed as a party to the case, also did not immediately respond. Drew is the night reporter for the Portland Press Herald. He previously covered South Portland, Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth for the Sentry, Leader and Southern Forecaster. Though he is from Massachusetts,... More by Drew Johnson Post navigation