Illinois Freedom Caucus raises new questions about noncitizen police
officer
[December 16, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(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.
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“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. |
