Gregory Bovino, the U.S. Border Patrol head who became the face of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, will retire at the end of the month, two Customs and Border Protection officials told NBC News.
Bovino was removed from his role as CBP commander at large in January and returned to his role as Border Patrol sector chief in El Centro, California. The move came after the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and aggressive immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
His exit coincides with the date President Donald Trump announced would be Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s last day in the job. In Bovino’s position as commander, he reported directly to Noem and her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski.
Bovino was also eligible for retirement and one year away from the mandatory retirement age in CBP of 57.
Emails obtained by NBC News showed Bovino was frustrated in Chicago in October when he was told to conduct “targeted” arrests rather than “full scale immigration enforcement.”
CBS News was first to report his plans to retire.
Bovino and other CBP agents were removed from Minneapolis in January where he had been overseeing Operation Metro Surge.
He was featured in Hollywood-style movie posters and video mashups as the White House sought to promote its crackdown in Chicago, which Bovino led. His tactics, including throwing gas canisters into crowds of protesters, led to a lawsuit in Chicago and clashes with other administration officials.
He was chastised by a federal judge after using chemical agents in residential neighborhoods, violating a judge’s order to curb their use. The judge called Bovino back into court after finding he repeatedly lied about threats posed by immigrants and protesters. In one incident, he claimed he threw a gas canister after he was hit by a rock. But he had to walk back the claim after video evidence contradicted him.
Good, 37, and Alex Pretti, 37, were killed by federal officers as Bovino waged the Minneapolis immigration crackdown.
Good was shot three times, including in the head, on Jan. 7 as she moved her vehicle during an encounter with ICE officer Jonathan Ross. Pretti’s death followed on Jan. 24, when two Customs and Border Protection officers fired their guns multiple times at Pretti, according to a DHS report. It was not clear from the report whether shots from both guns hit Pretti.
Well before overseeing the Minneapolis operation, Bovino conducted sweeping immigration arrests in Los Angeles at immigrants’ workplaces and residences, beginning in the LA Fashion District. In one incident, Bovino’s agents popped out of a rental truck in a Home Depot parking lot to arrest day laborers.
The arrests sparked five days of protests that led Trump to call in the National Guard and Marines. The administration also allowed Bovino to deploy his tactics in New Orleans, Charlotte, and other parts of North Carolina.
Prior to taking on the national role, Bovino was sued and accused of using similar tactics in California’s Kern County against agriculture workers and arrested several people, including at least one U.S. citizen. The administration was transitioning at the time.
In a lawsuit, people subjected to the tactics said they were pulled from cars, car tires slashed, targeted for appearance and skin color and made other allegations. The lawsuit also alleged that in that operation, border officials used trickery to get people to leave the country.
When previously asked for comment about the lawsuit, Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol, emailed a response attributed to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson that said Border Patrol enforcement actions are “highly targeted.”
“When we discover any alleged or potential misconduct, we immediately refer it for investigation and cooperate fully with any criminal or administrative investigations,” the spokesperson also said.
