Greg Bovino, the US Border Patrol commander who became the face of President
Bovino and some Border Patrol agents are expected to begin departing as soon as Tuesday, according to local officials. The move follows protests, political turmoil and nationwide scrutiny of Operation Metro Surge, a federal enforcement effort that has posted thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota since last month.
The White House said it’s dispatching border czar
WATCH: President Donald Trump’s US Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and some Border Patrol agents are expected to begin departing Minneapolis as soon as Tuesday. Jonathan Tamari of Bloomberg Government has more. Source: Bloomberg
Bovino had become a polarizing figure over his hardline tactics, including deploying chemical agents against protesters and his presence on the front lines of clashes between demonstrators and federal officers.
Before the Minnesota operation, he led immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, North Carolina and New Orleans. In Chicago, a federal judge ordered him to wear a body camera and report daily to court as part of oversight of enforcement actions there.
The Atlantic reported on Monday that Bovino had been removed from his role as “commander at large” and was expected to return to his previous CBP position in Southern California. The Department of Homeland Security disputed that report, with Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson, saying in an email that “Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties.”
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The backlash in Minnesota intensified after the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent during an immigration enforcement operation.
Officials initially said Pretti posed a threat — Senior Trump adviser
Available video of the incident didn’t show Pretti brandishing the firearm he was carrying, and suggested that the officers had disarmed him before shooting him repeatedly. Critics of the administration’s response included the National Rifle Association.
Pretti’s death came just weeks after the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good, a US citizen and Minneapolis mother of three, by an ICE agent during a similar operation in a residential neighborhood of the city.
Local officials called the federal presence chaotic and counterproductive. Frey said Minneapolis would continue to cooperate with state and federal authorities on serious criminal investigations but will refuse to assist in immigration arrests he deemed unconstitutional.
“Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow, and I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go,” Frey said Monday after speaking with Trump by telephone. “I will continue working with all levels of government to keep our communities safe, keep crime down, and put Minneapolis residents first.”
Minnesota Governor
Trump’s move to send Homan, who is seen as more focused on targeted enforcement than broad street operations, suggested the president might recognize that his maximum pressure deportation campaign had eroded public faith in immigration officials. Trump described Homan as “tough but fair.”
The New York Times reported that Trump met with Noem and her aide Corey Lewandowski for almost two hours on Monday evening in a sign of how seriously he’s taking the outcry.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her reacts to the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown in Minnesota after the killing of two US citizens during immigration raids sparked nationwide uproar. She spoke with Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power: Evening Edition.”
At a briefing Monday, White House Press Secretary
Homan, she said, would manage ICE operations on the ground and focus on arresting “criminal” undocumented immigrants.
The sanctuary city debate lies at the heart of the conflict. Trump has long criticized those cities and states, typically run by Democrats, that limit cooperation with ICE, accusing them of shielding criminals and threatening to withhold federal funding.
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Public opinion polls show increasing discomfort with the administration’s tactics, even among voters who broadly support immigration enforcement. Nearly half of Americans in a recent Politico poll said the deportation campaign was too aggressive, and one in three Trump voters said while they support the goals of the effort, they disapproved of how it’s being implemented.
Business leaders in Minnesota, including executives from
In Washington, Senate Democrats have threatened to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security unless restrictions are placed on enforcement operations — raising the specter of a partial government shutdown — while some Republicans are urging for more restraint and clearer strategy on immigration from the administration.
(Updates with context of shooting in eighth paragraph.)
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Sarah McGregor, John Harney
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