CHICAGO — While conducting targeted enforcement operations in Rolling Meadows on Oct. 15, ICE Chicago arrested an illegal alien from Montenegro who was recently sworn in as a police officer in the Chicago suburb of Hanover Park. Officers assigned to Operation Midway Blitz identified Radule Bojovic as a B-2 visitor visa overstay, who was required to leave the country by March 31, 2015. He illegally overstayed his visa by more than 10 years.
“Illegal aliens are prohibited from owning or possessing firearms — full stop,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Chicago Field Office Director Sam Olson. “This is the second known instance in recent months of a local police department hiring an illegal alien and unlawfully issuing him a firearm while on duty in violation of federal law. It is alarming how local jurisdictions continue to disregard federal law to the detriment of their communities.”
Upon arrest, Bojovic provided his employee identification card, confirming he is a police officer with the Hanover Park Police Department. Bojovic also admitted that he had no weapons on his person because he’s only authorized to carry his firearm while on duty. As an alien illegally present in the United States, ICE officers immediately placed Bojovic under arrest. This is just the latest instance of Governor JB Pritzker’s continued refusal to abide by federal laws, jeopardizing the welfare of Illinois residents.
ICE agents arrested a police officer Thursday morning in the Chicago suburb of Hanover Park, accusing him of being an unlawful immigrant from Montenegro.
The Department of Homeland Security says the officer, Radule Bojovic, overstayed a tourist visa that expired in 2015.
According to the department, Bojovic was “encountered during a targeted enforcement action” in ICE’s immigration-focused operation in Illinois.
The Hanover Park Police Department shared a Facebook post in August announcing Bojovic’s recent graduation from the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, adding that he had started “an intensive 15 weeks of field training and evaluation as he continues preparing to serve the Hanover Park community.”
CNN has reached out to the Hanover Park Police for comment and has attempted to contact Bojovic.
“Radule Bojovic violated our nation’s laws and was living ILLEGALLY in the United States for 10 years—what kind of police department gives criminal illegal aliens badges and guns? It’s a felony for aliens to even possess a firearm. A law enforcement officer who is actively breaking the law,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement to CNN Thursday.
Rodney Craig, the mayor of Hanover Park, said Thursday night that village officials will be monitoring Bojovic’s immigration proceedings. If he’s allowed to stay in the US and authorized to work, he will be returned to full duty status at the police department, Craig said at a municipal meeting.
“I encourage all our residents to gather all the available facts before forming their own opinion as to whether hiring the officer was appropriate. I can tell you with the utmost confidence it was appropriate,” he said. “First and foremost, the village and the police department conducted its own thorough due diligence as part of this hiring process. As is the case with the hiring of all police officers.”
Craig said that before Bojovic was hired, the village confirmed that he was legally authorized work in the United States.
“Background checks performed by the FBI and Illinois State Police revealed no criminal history,” he added. “If Officer Bojovic did not hold federal work authorization, he would not have been hired.”
In September, ICE agents arrested the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district, accusing him of being in the country illegally since the early 2000s. The superintendent was later charged with separate firearm offenses.