The publication said Monday, citing a DHS official and two others familiar with the matter, that Bovino would return to his former role in El Centro, California, after a border patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin later said Bovino “has NOT been relieved of his duties” and that he is a “key part of the President’s team and a great American.”
The Border Patrol chief has been ousted from his role as “commander at large,” and will return to El Centro.
By Nick Miroff
Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to a DHS official and two people with knowledge of the change.
Bovino’s sudden demotion is the clearest sign yet that the Trump administration is reconsidering its most aggressive tactics after the killing Saturday of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents under Bovino’s command.
Earlier today, President Trump appeared to signal in a series of social-media posts a tactical shift in the administration’s mass-deportation campaign. Trump wrote that he spoke with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz—whom the White House has blamed for inciting violence—and the two men are now on “a similar wavelength.” Tom Homan, the former ICE chief whom Trump has designated “border czar,” will head to Minnesota to assume command of the federal mobilization there, Trump said.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski, who were Bovino’s biggest backers at DHS, are also at risk of losing their jobs, two of the people told me.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Monday he spoke with President Donald Trump and learned some federal agents will leave the city beginning Tuesday. Trump “agreed the present situation can’t continue,” per Frey.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also spoke to Trump on Monday, and said the president agreed to “look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota.”
Trump said his conversations with Walz and Frey were both “very good.”
- Trump described Homan as “tough but fair” and said the border czar will report directly to him.
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Greg Bovino temporarily blocked from his social media accounts: report
The Department of Homeland Security has suspended Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino’s access to his social media accounts, an unnamed source told CNN.
After a Border Patrol officer fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday, Bovino had gone on social media to defend his agency.
DHS insists Greg Bovino has 'NOT been relieved of his duties'
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said Monday Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino has “NOT been relieved of his duties,” and called him a “key part of the President’s team and a great American.”
This comes following a report from The Atlantic that Bovino was removed from his role as “commander at large.”
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