Editor’s note: This story has been updated to emphasize the Stelson campaign’s vehement denial that the illegal immigrant in question was working or had ever worked for her campaign. We reqret the error.
ICE arrested a Nigerian national who previous reporting claimed had been canvassing for Pennsylvania Democratic congressional candidate Janelle Stelson after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct following a public exposure incident near a residential park. The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest on October 7.
SCOOP: ICE just arrested a canvasser for Pennsylvania Democrat @JanelleStelson after local police caught him exposing himself in a neighborhood
The subject in the country illegally pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charge, per DHS
WTF is going on at Stelson’s campaign? https://t.co/f9VhwOWBpj
— NRCC (@NRCC) October 7, 2026
DHS identified the man as Chimaobim Adedayo Igbojekwe. He was lawfully admitted to the U.S. in June 2017, but his authorized stay ended in November 2019. He stayed anyway, and the Biden administration handed him deferred action in September 2021. So, an overstayed visa, a Biden get-out-of-removal-free card, and then a seat in a parked car in Mechanicsburg with no pants on. Quite a resume, according to published reports.
Stelson’s campaign has pushed back hard on the allegation, denying it completely. “This individual is not and has never been employed by the Janelle Stelson campaign,” campaign manager Alma Baker said. 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.”
Janelle Stelson campaign manager Alma Baker issued the following statement in response to inaccurate reporting about an individual who has no affiliation with the Stelson campaign:
“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.”
— Janelle Stelson (@JanelleStelson) October 7, 2026
East Pennsboro Township police arrested Igbojekwe on September 27 after residents reported a man sitting in a vehicle for several hours near a park, reports said. When an officer made contact, Igbojekwe opened the car door wearing only a shirt, his genitals fully exposed. He told police he was there to hand out campaign flyers for Stelson and pointed to literature inside the vehicle, reports said.
He was initially charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct. The indecent-exposure charge and one disorderly-conduct count were later withdrawn, and he pleaded guilty to a single third-degree misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. An immigration detainer was filed, and ICE took him into custody on October 1 after his release from Cumberland County Prison.
Stelson, a former local TV anchor, is challenging Republican Representative Scott Perry in a rematch of the 2024 race, which Perry won by roughly one percentage point. The race is considered one of the nation’s closest midterm contests and could help decide which party controls the House.
