New Orleans Police Recruit Turns Out To Be Illegal Immigrant Fraudster

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested an illegal immigrant accused of fraud who was just one week away from graduating the New Orleans Police Department academy, according to Fox News.

Larry Temah, 46, who hails from Cameroon, was hired by the New Orleans Police Department in June, the agency’s superintendent, Anne Kirkpatrick, said following his arrest last month.

The Department of Homeland Security slammed the department for not only hiring Temah, but also for arming him.

“This illegal alien from Cameroon, Larry Temah, is not only breaking the law with every step he takes in this country illegally, but the New Orleans Police Department hired him and issued him a firearm – what kind of law enforcement department gives criminal illegal aliens guns and badges?” the agency said in a statement to Fox News.

“It’s a FELONY for illegal aliens to even possess a firearm. Sanctuary cities like New Orleans ignore ICE detainers and are protecting illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens,” the agency said.

Temah entered the United States in 2015 using a visitor’s visa, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News. After marrying an American citizen in 2016, he was granted conditional residency.

The federal government denied his application for permanent status in 2022, citing fraud. Temah failed to show for three separate hearings in immigration court, resulting in a judge issuing a deportation order.

Temah, however, didn’t comply with that order to leave the country, forcing ICE to hunt him down.

Kirkpatrick said last month that the police department had no information to suggest Temah was in the country illegally during his hiring process.

“There was nothing in the [personnel] packet that would have given us reason to believe that this person did not have legal status,” she said. “There is some question that may have developed later.”

Temah applied to become an officer in June 2025, according to Fox News. He also had a valid driver’s license and Social Security number, and passed the E-Verify check, which ensures workers are in the country legally and eligible to work.

Kirkpatrick said they learned of his deportation order on Dec. 5, which was after he applied for the role with the department.

“The order of removal occurred after we had already hired him,” she said.

She said that the NOPD had conducted standard criminal background checks, including a search through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, and found no criminal history.

Temah’s case isn’t the first involving ICE arresting an illegal immigrant cop.

In October, federal authorities nabbed Radule Bojovic, an illegal immigrant from Montenegro, who was working as a police officer for the Hanover Police Department in Illinois.

Bojovic overstayed a tourist visa that required him to leave the United States on March 31, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security said at the time of his arrest. A judge later granted Bojovic a $2,500 immigration bond and he has since returned to work with the Hanover Police Department.

The department hired Bojovic in January 2025 since he had a federal work permit and passed all background checks, they previously said.