(The Center Square)–Statehouse Republicans say Illinois law facilitated the hiring of a non-citizen migrant as a police officer in a Chicago suburb.
State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, said Hanover Park hired Montenegro national Radule Bojovic after he overstayed a tourist visa that expired in 2015 and lost a job at a clothing store due to immigration work authorization issues.
Niemerg spoke at an Illinois Freedom Caucus press conference at the Illinois Capitol Monday. He said that under state sanctuary policies, Illinois State Police do not check immigration status or Department of Homeland Security violations during background checks for law enforcement employment.
Niemerg said the Hanover Police Department helped Bojovic apply for Firearm Owners Identification.
“The very first question that you’re asked when you apply for a FOID card is, ‘Are you a United States citizen,’ and now they’re pointing to a 2024 [Department of Justice] memo under the Biden administration saying that he’s allowed to carry a firearm while he’s on duty,” Niemerg said. “Now you have a noncitizen with police powers over the citizenry of the state of Illinois given a roundabout back door to violate the FOID card act and break the Constitution and the laws we have in the state of Illinois to carry a firearm.”
Before Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted House Bill 3751 in 2023, it was unlawful under state statute for local governments to employ or allow noncitizens to serve in law enforcement.
Niemerg said Hanover Park rehired Bojovic even after U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officers arrested him during Operation Midway Blitz.
“The Democrats propose these pieces of legislation. They say, ‘Oh, there’s nothing to see here.’ A lot of people say, ‘Nothing to see’ when we’re saying, ‘There is something to see.’ And then a couple of years later, what do we have? We have an illegal immigrant with police powers against Illinois citizens,” Niemerg said.
Niemberg said federal officials released Bojovic on bond pending trial and that the case was “not done.”
Last August, Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1953 to require full employment history checks for police officers, after a former sheriff’s deputy with a checkered history was convicted of murdering Sonya Massey in Springfield last year.
State Rep. David Friess, R-Red Bud, said lawmakers who supported SB 1953 should be outraged by Bojovic’s case.
“He broke the law, federal law. He lost his job due to immigration paperwork issues. He lied on his polygraph. He has committed a federal crime every moment he carries a gun on U.S. soil. And yet, where are the activists?” Friess asked.
When asked by The Center Square Monday, a Hanover Park Police Department spokesperson said the department did not have any comment on the latest Freedom Caucus revelations.
According to Hanover Park Police Department records, Bojovic was eligible to receive a starting salary of $78,955.70 last January.
Additional records indicate his 2025 earnings cost taxpayers $205,707, including $9,276 for FICA/Medicare taxes.
Greg Bishop and Catrina Barker contributed to this story.
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