Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino Announces Retirement After Controversial Tenure

Gregory Bovino, a 28-year Border Patrol veteran who gained national attention leading Trump's immigration enforcement operations in major cities, has announced his retirement. Bovino's aggressive tactics in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis drew criticism and legal challenges before he was reassigned following civilian deaths.

A Border Patrol official who rose to national prominence during the Trump administration’s intensive immigration enforcement campaigns has announced his decision to step down from federal service, according to confirmation he provided to The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Gregory Bovino, age 55, began his career with the Border Patrol in 1996 and advanced through various leadership positions over nearly three decades. His public profile expanded significantly last June when he took charge of enforcement operations in Los Angeles, leading to thousands of detentions through high-profile raids at locations including Home Depot stores and vehicle cleaning facilities. During these operations, federal agents broke vehicle windows, forced entry into residential properties, and conducted mounted patrols through the well-known MacArthur Park area.

Frequently seen wearing tactical equipment, Bovino subsequently moved his operations to Chicago, where his teams conducted enforcement activities along the Chicago River, in the popular Michigan Avenue shopping district, and throughout various neighborhoods and suburban areas. His Chicago tenure included directing a helicopter-assisted operation at a large residential complex and deploying chemical agents against protesters.

Following brief deployments in Charlotte, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Bovino maintained an almost constant presence in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region, where tensions escalated between protesters and immigration officials, ultimately resulting in the deaths of two American citizens: Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Bovino departed Minnesota soon after Pretti’s death on January 24 and was subsequently replaced by Tom Homan, the White House’s border enforcement coordinator.

Currently serving as sector chief for the Border Patrol’s El Centro, California division since 2020, Bovino will conclude his federal career from that position.

During an August 25 interview with the AP, Bovino outlined his enforcement philosophy: “We’re not going to hit one location. We’re going to hit as many as we can. All over — all over — the Los Angeles region, we’re going to turn and burn to that next target and the next and the next and the next, and we’re not going to stop. We’re not going to stop until there’s not a problem here.”

In that same interview, Bovino defended the Border Patrol’s expanded operations in urban areas far from international boundaries: “What happens at the border, even 100 years ago, didn’t stay at the border, and it still doesn’t. That’s why we’re here in Los Angeles.”

Regarding a controversial incident in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood where he deployed tear gas against a crowd, Bovino stated in a November 3 AP interview: “We use the least amount of force necessary to effect the arrest, we do that. If I had more CS gas, I would have deployed it.” The Department of Homeland Security claimed Bovino had been struck by a rock, though witnesses disputed this account and alleged agents used gas without advance warning. A federal judge later determined that Bovino provided false testimony about this incident.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis addressed Bovino directly on October 28, stating: “My role is not to tell you that you can or cannot enforce validly passed laws by Congress. … My role is simply to see that in the enforcement of those laws, the agents are acting in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution.” The judge mandated that Bovino provide daily reports on his agents’ enforcement methods in Chicago.

At a January 24 press conference following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by federal officers, Bovino characterized the incident by saying: “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Eyewitness footage immediately contradicted his account of the events.

President Donald Trump addressed Bovino’s removal from Minnesota during a January 27 Fox News Channel interview: “I don’t think it’s a pullback, it’s a little bit of a change. Everybody in this room that has a business, you know you make little changes. You know Bovino’s very good, but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy, and in some cases, that’s good, maybe it wasn’t good here.”

On March 5, following Trump’s dismissal of Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary, Bovino offered his assessment: “She is the best Secretary I ever worked for, period. The others weren’t even close. Noem is the ultimate patriot.”