A Traffic Stop, an ICE Detention, and a Border Crossing North
Jessie Tepler-Mujambere spent two days in federal custody after a local traffic stop in New Hampshire, ending a path through the American immigration system by crossing into Canada.
The 28-year-old adopted son of Maine state senator Denise Tepler was apprehended earlier this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after local police pulled him over in Colebrook, New Hampshire, about 10 miles from the Canadian border. At the time of the stop, Tepler-Mujambere was on his way to relocate to Canada, having recently obtained his Canadian citizenship and carrying his new passport, according to his family in interviews with The Boston Globe.
The arrest highlights the friction between local law enforcement partnerships and federal immigration enforcement, a dynamic that plays out differently across state lines in New England. While New Hampshire maintains local enforcement channels with federal agencies, neighboring Maine enacted a law this year prohibiting local police departments from entering into such agreements.
The Road from Burundi to New England
Tepler-Mujambere arrived in the United States from Burundi as a teenager in November 2014 on a visa that expired in May 2015, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Soon after his arrival, he met members of the Tepler family when an older sister was teaching English as a Second Language at a Maine high school with a large community of asylum seekers.
By 2015, when he was 16, he began living with the Tepler family and was formally adopted when he was 22. State Senator Denise Tepler is a Democrat representing Sagadahoc County, and her husband, Sheldon, works as an attorney. Over the years, Tepler-Mujambere graduated from Mt. Ararat High School in 2018 and built a career working as a case manager and a direct support professional in a group home for individuals with disabilities.
For 10 years, he pursued legal status through asylum proceedings. But his family told The Boston Globe that those prospects faded under the immigration policies of the second Trump administration. Earlier this year, his work authorization was not renewed. Facing limited options and unable to live the life he wanted in the United States, he decided to move to Canada, where his adoptive father holds dual citizenship.
Enforcement Partnerships at the Border
The sequence that led to his detention began on Wednesday in Colebrook, New Hampshire, where local police pulled Tepler-Mujambere over for speeding. The local police department operates under a 287(g) agreement with ICE, a federal program that allows police officers to interrogate individuals suspected of being in the country unlawfully and turn them over to ICE.
Such local partnerships are a focal point of intense political debate. Denise Tepler told The Portland Press Herald that she was very glad Maine does not have 287(g) agreements, pointing out that her son was stopped miles from his intended destination only to be taken south before eventually being released to Canada.
Immigration attorneys have noted that asylum seekers were permitted for decades to live and work in their communities while their cases moved through the courts, a practice that shifted significantly with the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in 2025. DHS officials maintain that a pending application does not confer legal status. A DHS spokesperson told The Boston Globe that any allegations of racial profiling are “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” adding that enforcement targets individuals based on unlawful presence rather than skin color, race, or ethnicity.
Release and Arrival in Canada
Following his arrest, Tepler-Mujambere was held for about two days before being released on Friday. According to federal officials, he requested incentivized departure to Canada. He arrived across the northern border later that day, texting his family, “I’m free!”
Denise Tepler said in a phone interview with The Boston Globe on Friday that she thinks her son is glad he is in Canada, noting that was where he was going to begin with.
His sister, Maya Tepler, told The Portland Press Herald that considering the alternatives—including potential deportation to Burundi—the outcome was a “best-case scenario for a worst-case scenario.”
Colebrook’s police chief did not respond to requests for comment regarding the traffic stop and subsequent transfer. As Tepler-Mujambere settles into his new life with Canadian citizenship, the case remains a stark illustration of how shifting federal enforcement priorities and local police partnerships intersect with the lives of long-term community members.
