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First Maine, now Illinois: a suburban Chicago officer’s arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has exposed another stunning breach in the nation’s vetting system, marking at least the second time in three months that an armed lawman turned out to be in the U.S. illegally.
On July 25, according to ICE, Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, was serving as a reserve officer with Old Orchard Beach, Maine Police Department when he was arrested after he unlawfully attempted to purchase a gun. Old Orchard Beach, according to the Department of Homeland Security, is considered a sanctuary jurisdiction, due to their refusal to comply with the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
On Thursday, Radule Bojovic, of Montenegro, who was serving as a police officer with the Hanover Park Police Department when he was arrested during Operation Midway Blitz, which targets illegal immigrants living in Illinois because of the state’s sanctuary policies, federal officials announced. Hanover Park, like Old Orchard Beach, is also considered to be a sanctuary jurisdiction.
The back-to-back arrests of Evans and Bojovic, occurring within just three months and both in sanctuary jurisdictions, highlight the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown aimed at removing illegal aliens from the streets.
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ICE said that both Evans and Bojovic initially entered the U.S. legally, but both overstayed their visas.
Evans, the agency said, entered the United States Sept. 24, 2023, at Miami International Airport. However, he violated the terms when he overstayed his visa. ICE said that he was scheduled to depart the U.S. Oct. 1, 2023, but never boarded the flight.
His arrest came when he went to purchase a gun, telling employees that he was a police officer. His attempt to purchase the gun triggered an alert to ATF agents, who worked in coordination with ICE to make the arrest.
Federal authorities said Bojovic was in the U.S. on a tourist visa that required him to depart by March 31, 2015. Over a decade later, he was still illegally in the U.S. As an officer, Bojovic was approved by the Pension Fund Board of Trustees in January 2025 and was eligible to receive a starting salary of $78,955.
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Both police departments involved have defended their hiring practices and stopped short of accepting responsibility for the vetting failures that allowed the two men to serve as officers.
In Maine, Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard said her department followed every legal step in hiring the Jamaican national, including submitting his paperwork through the federal E-Verify system, which confirmed his employment eligibility.
The department maintains that Evans presented valid work authorization documents and that DHS had cleared him to serve as a reserve officer. Officials say they were blindsided by the ICE arrest and only learned of it through a press release.
While the chief described the situation as “deeply concerning,” she attributed the breakdown to a possible federal error and said the department would review its procedures.
“Our department and our community relied on the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify program to ensure we were meeting our obligations,” said Chief Chard. “We are distressed and deeply concerned about this apparent error on the part of the federal government.”
In Illinois, officials in the Village of Hanover Park issued a nearly identical defense after the arrest of the Montenegrin national, who had been working as a full-time police officer.
In a release, the department said Bojovic provided a valid work authorization card at the time of his hiring and passed both state and federal background checks. The department has placed him on administrative leave pending the outcome of his immigration case but has not conceded fault, insisting that all standard vetting protocols were followed.
Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano Jr. and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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