Trump Border Patrol boss ousted after disastrous response to latest Minneapolis killing
Customs and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino has been ousted from his role as "commander at large" after his disastrous response to the latest killing of a U.S. citizen by federal immigration officers, according to a new report.
President Donald Trump's administration said on Monday that border czar Tom Homan would travel to Minneapolis and serve as the "main point of contact" for the administration's deportation operations. Initially, they indicated Bovino was being reassigned to another station. But a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Atlantic that the embattled Border Patrol boss is returning to his home in California and is expected to retire soon.
Bovino's retirement comes after a swarm of immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, at a protest in Minneapolis.
Bovino called Pretti a "domestic terrorist" after the shooting and said he intended to inflict maximum harm on immigration agents, two claims that Pretti's parents called out as "lies" in a later statement.
The Atlantic reported that Bovino's departure is the "clearest sign yet" that the Trump administration is reconsidering how it conducts its deportation operations.