By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – U.S. Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino plans to retire at the end of March, he confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday, marking the formal departure of a prominent leader of President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Bovino, 55, led confrontational immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, Chicago and other major U.S. cities. Under his leadership, masked border agents clashed with residents as they scoured neighborhoods for possible immigration offenders.
“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced,” Bovino told the conservative news outlet Breitbart in an interview published on Monday.
He did not immediately respond when asked by Reuters why he planned to leave now.
The Trump crackdown culminated in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. Trump officials initially portrayed the victims – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – as aggressors rather than calling for investigations into the incidents, claims that were undercut by video evidence.
Reuters/Ipsos polls show public support for Trump’s immigration approach – historically one of his strongest issues – diminished as Bovino-led agents surged into U.S. cities, triggering backlash and legal challenges.
Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this month, with her tenure set to end on March 31. To replace Noem, Trump nominated U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma with similar hardline views who will testify before a Senate panel on Wednesday.
Even before Noem’s firing, Bovino was removed from his role as a Border Patrol “commander-at-large” in January after Good and Pretti were killed, with Reuters and other outlets reporting he would soon retire. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was named the top official overseeing the Minnesota crackdown, which then was scaled back.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson David Kim said Bovino had not yet filed retirement paperwork. Kim said Bovino, who grew up in North Carolina, missed bear hunting and harvesting apples while leading Trump immigration operations.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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