(NewsNation) — A suburban Chicago police officer has returned to duty months after being arrested by federal immigration agents during the monthslong enforcement operation in the greater Chicago area that this fall.
Hanover Park officer Radule Bojovic resumed working with the department on Monday after he was released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Indiana on October 31. Department officials said after Bojovic’s arrest that the officer was working in the United States legally and had proper work authorization and passed FBI and Illinois State Police background checks.
However, Department of Homeland Security officials blasted the decision to allow Bojovic to be released from ICE custody and to return to his police job.
“It is absolutely deranged that this activist judge released this criminal illegal alien and now he is back on FULL DUTY as a policy officer to enforce the law, which he is breaking with every breath he takes on U.S. soil,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement issued by the agency on Wednesday.
“Among a litany of other crimes, it is a felony for an illegal alien to possess a firearm. We will be pursuing every legal option available to us, including criminal charges.”
Hanover Park Deputy Chief Victor Devito said this week that Bojovic was cleared to return to work because he has legal authorization to work and because the $2,500 bond paid to have him released from ICE custody was not contested. The deputy chief also said in a statement released by the village that Bojovic would receive back pay for the time he spent in ICE detention.
DeVito did not immediately return a message from NewsNation seeking comment on McLaughlin’s comments.
Bojovic, 25, who was born in Montenegro, was arrested by ICE in mid-October, after DHS officials alleged he had overstayed a tourist visa that required him to leave the United States by March 21, 2015. Federal officials also argued that it is illegal for a migrant who is in the United States illegally to possess a firearm.
Federal officials reported that more than 4,200 arrests were made during the Chicago-based immigration enforcement operation, which ended in early November.
The Chicago Tribune reported the Hanover Park police department has two work authorizations on file for Bojovic. Village officials said in October that Bojovic was hired in January and was certified by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board in August.
Village officials said Bojovic would not have been hired without a valid work authorization, which they were assured by state and federal authorities had not been revoked.
A redacted copy of the officer’s work authorization obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request did not display the dates during which his work authorization was valid.
The Tribune reported that Bojovic previously worked as a church janitor and at Ross department store. He also indicated that he attended high school in Chicago, the report indicated.
In his job application to join the Hanover Park police force, the newspaper reported that Bojovic wrote he wanted to become a police officer because he was “motivated by a strong desire to serve and protect the community. I’m drawn to the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, ensuring safety and fostering trust.”