In Thursday announcements, both the U.S Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that a Chicago-area police officer has been arrested for allegedly being an illegal alien.
Homeland Security said that Radule Bojovic, a police officer in the Chicago suburb of Hanover Park, is an illegal immigrant from Montenegro, a country in the Balkans. It said he was “encountered during a targeted enforcement action as part of Operation Midway Blitz.”
According to ICE, Bojovic was arrested Wednesday during targeted enforcements in Rolling Meadows, another Chicago suburb. Bojovic was arrested for an alleged B-2 visitor visa overstay and he was supposed to have left the U.S. in March 2015, ICE said.
This August, the Hanover Park Police Department said in a Facebook post that Bojovic had graduated had from the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy (SLEA). The department also said he was set to begin an “intensive 15 weeks of field training and evaluation as he continues preparing to serve the Hanover Park community,”
According to Hanover Park Police Department records cited by the DHS, Bojovic was approved by the Pension Fund Board of Trustees this January – the same month that President Donald Trump took office and started a new crackdown on illegal immigration – and was eligible to receive a starting salary of $78,955.70. DHS also said additional records indicate his 2025 earnings cost taxpayers $205,707 including $9,276 for FICA/Medicare taxes.
“Governor JB Pritzker doesn’t just allow violent illegal aliens to terrorize Illinois’s communities, he allows illegal aliens to work as sworn police officers. 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 so-called law enforcement officer who is actively breaking the law,” said Assistant DHS Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “Under President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem ICE is restoring law and order. Criminal illegal aliens have NO PLACE in our communities, especially on our police forces.”
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Chicago Field Office Director Sam Olson said 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.”
However, Hanover Park said that it was never alerted of issues with Bojovic’s immigration status by the federal government.
“The Hanover Park Police Department hired Officer Bojovic in January 2025 in full compliance with federal and state law,” said the municipality in a Thursday statement. “Before hiring Officer Bojovic, the Village confirmed that he was legally authorized by the federal government to work in the United States.”
Per Hanover Park’s statement, Bojovic “presented the Village with a Work Authorization Card,” at the time he was hired. It said the card was issued by the federal government’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, that it was valid and that it was recently renewed. Furthermore, the municipality said it conducted a full background check, including a criminal history, with both the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and made sure he was able to carry a firearm while on duty based in his immigration status.
“The bottom line is that all information we received from the federal government indicated that Officer Bojovic is legally authorized to work in the United States as a police officer,” said the statement. “Clearly, without that authorization, the Village would not have hired him. Additionally, the Village has not received any notice from any federal or state agency that his work authorization status has ever been revoked.”
It noted that Bojovic has been placed on administrative leave following the ICE arrest, “pending the outcome of the immigration proceedings he is now facing.” Bojovic is expected to return to full duty status if he is permitted to remain in the United States and remains legally authorized to work in this country.
CNN reported that Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig said that he encourages “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 added. “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.”
While Homeland Security and ICE both slammed Illinois’ governor for allegedly flouting laws, Pritzker has also been fighting back against the Trump administration. In an interview this week with MSNBC, he told Jen Psaki that they had recently had another win against ICE in court.
“We know that the administration is operating unlawfully, and the courts are, in fact, finding it unlawful,” said the governor. He’s also said that he’s interested in pursuing prosecution of ICE agents who violate the law, though he did not address the Bojovic situation directly.