Bovino Calls Agent Withdrawal From Minnesota a Capitulation

A former US border patrol chief says the removal of agents from Minnesota amounted to giving up.

Greg Bovino led the deportation push in Minneapolis before leaving his post. In an interview with the BBC, he characterized the subsequent pullback of personnel as a "surrender" by the administration. Roughly 700 agents departed the state. Tom Homan, the White House "border tsar," took command of the operation. Bovino spoke in Detroit while campaigning for stricter immigration enforcement. He said the administration "threw the towel in" and that deportation activity has reached a "virtual standstill." He also said he wishes he had pressed harder in Minnesota and arrested more people. He described his agents as the "real victims" of what he called the most violence any law enforcement mission has faced in US history.

Two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot dead in January. Video recorded both incidents. The killings prompted bipartisan criticism and widespread protests. Bovino was removed from his position shortly afterward. President Donald Trump initially said Good "violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer." Weeks later he called her death a "tragedy" and said agents sometimes "going to make a mistake." The agent who fired at Good, Jonathan Ross, is named in a civil suit alongside Bovino and other officials. The complaint alleges wrongful death and a conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of protesters. It states that the operation produced "an unprecedented environment for state-sponsored violence." A White House spokeswoman has previously called the lawsuits "baseless." Bovino, 56, declined to address the legal action. "People do lawsuits all the time," he said, adding that he was "not responding" to it.

Lawyers for Good's family said Bovino was "spewing propaganda" and could not be "judge, jury and executioner." They said their team "looks forward to the depositions of Mr Bovino and all of the defendants in this matter." Asked by the BBC whether video evidence undercut his account that Good and Pretti posed a threat, Bovino said: "The evidence is that violence was perpetrated against agents of the US government, and this is a society of laws and people need to follow the law. If not, there are consequences." He said he had not received an official explanation for his own removal: "You'd have to ask the administration. I still haven't gotten the final word on that." Kristi Noem, who was Homeland Security secretary during the operation, was fired by Trump in March. Bovino has since retired from the border patrol.

Bovino has called for "total spectrum immigration enforcement" with military backing. He has claimed, without providing evidence, that 100 million people are in the US illegally. A White House spokesperson said Trump had "delivered the largest reduction in illegal immigration in modern history" and that more than 3 million people had left the country because of his policies.

He also raised the prospect of a 2028 presidential campaign. "If politicians aren't going to step up and do their job then you might see something happen," he said. He recently spoke at a rally in Michigan held by activists who want Abdul El-Sayed deported. El-Sayed is a US-born citizen and Democratic Senate candidate who would be the first Muslim US senator if he defeats Republican Mike Rogers.