ICE Arrests Illegal Alien Campaigning in Swing State

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Chimaobim Adedayo Igbojekwe, a Nigerian national, on October 1 after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly-conduct charge stemming from a public exposure incident in central Pennsylvania.

Local reporting indicated that Igbojekwe had been working as a canvasser for Janelle Stelson, the Democratic nominee in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, at the time of the incident.

He was lawfully admitted to the United States in June 2017, with his authorized stay ending in November 2019; he remained without authorization and received deferred action under the Biden administration in September 2021.

East Pennsboro Township police arrested him on September 27 in a residential area of Mechanicsburg near a park after reports of a man sitting in a vehicle for several hours.

When an officer made contact, Igbojekwe opened the door wearing only a shirt with his genitals exposed; he said he was waiting to distribute campaign flyers for Stelson and pointed to literature in his vehicle.

He was initially charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct; those counts were later reduced, and he pleaded guilty to a single third-degree misdemeanor of disorderly conduct.

An immigration detainer was filed, and ICE took him into custody on October 1 after his release from Cumberland County Prison.

ICE Deputy Director Charles Wall stated, “It’s unbelievable that Janelle Stelson would employ an illegal alien to work on a Congressional campaign, let alone a pervert who exposed himself in public.”

He added that the department is working to remove “dangerous illegal aliens” and that the Trump Administration “will always put the safety of the American people first.”

Stelson’s campaign rejected any connection, with campaign manager Alma Baker stating, “This individual is not and has never been employed by the Janelle Stelson campaign. If he is an illegal immigrant who committed a crime he should be deported. We never heard of him prior to the news of his arrest. We are grateful to law enforcement for acting swiftly to arrest him.”

Stelson, a former local television anchor, is challenging Republican Rep. Scott Perry in a rematch of the 2024 race that Perry won by roughly one percentage point; the contest is viewed as one of the closest midterm races and could help decide control of the House.