A Democratic congressional campaign in Pennsylvania says the Department of Homeland Security wrongly accused them of employing an undocumented immigrant who was arrested for indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.
DHS said in a news release on Wednesday that the suspect, Chimaobim Adedayo Igbojekwe, worked as a canvasser for Janelle Stelson, who is running against Republican Rep. Scott Perry in central Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District.
Stelson’s campaign adamantly denied Igbojekwe had any involvement in the campaign.
“This individual is not and has never been employed by the Janelle Stelson campaign,” Campaign Manager Alma Baker said in a statement Thursday. “If he is an illegal immigrant who committed a crime he should be deported. We never heard of him prior to the news of this arrest.”
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DHS made the allegation in a press release that cited an article from the Shore News Network, a conservative outlet, in which Scott Presler, a conservative political activist, identified Igbojekwe as a canvasser for Stelson. Presler told the outlet that campaign flyers were found inside of Igbojekwe’s vehicle but did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Sun.
“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,”Charles Wall, deputy director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in the news release.
DHS notes that Igbojekwe was granted deferred action by the Biden administration in 2021. The release does not offer any indication the federal government investigated Igbojekwe’s employment.
Federal campaigns are required to report the names of employees and their compensation. Igbojekwe does not appear in records of the Federal Election Commission.
The DHS office declined to answer further questions from The Sun about the allegation.
There have been cases where independent contractors have employed people who are not directly hired by campaigns. Still, asked if the Igbojekwe could have been hired by a contractor or might have worked as a volunteer, Baker said, “No. We never heard of him prior to the news of his arrest.”
The allegation surfaced as Stelson and Perry are locked in a race rated a “toss up.”
Stelson lost to Perry in 2024 by about 1 percentage point. The district is more competitive this year and Democrats think this year’s challenging political environment for the GOP could help them unseat the former Freedom Caucus chair.
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