The Trump administration has also moved to reduce the number of ICE agents present in the state by this week. Bovino was the man behind the Department of Homeland Security’s Minneapolis operation, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge”
US President Donald Trump has ordered the removal of Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino from Minneapolis after widespread protests in the state and the killing of another person by ICE agents.
The Trump administration has also moved to reduce the number of ICE agents present in the state by this week. Bovino was the man behind the Department of Homeland Security’s Minneapolis operation, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge.”
According to a senior White House official and an administration official speaking to NBC News, Bovino is set to return to the border in El Centro, California. The officials confirmed that he will relinquish his “commander” title to resume his former role as the Border Patrol sector chief for that region. Consequently, he will no longer be responsible for overseeing Border Patrol agents conducting immigration arrests within interior US cities.
Meanwhile, Trump on Monday dispatched his top border security official, Tom Homan, to Minnesota in an effort to manage rising tensions after the fatal shooting of a US citizen by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.
Minnesota has become a focal point of conflict after the death of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by a federal agent over the weekend during protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — marking the second such fatal shooting in the city in recent weeks.
The 79-year-old Republican’s first reaction to Pretti’s killing was to suggest that the nurse had come intending to shoot at the police.
Pretti was carrying a pistol with him at the time, but never removed it and had apparently already been disarmed when he was shot multiple times at point-blank range. He was licensed to carry a weapon.
Trump said on social media that Homan, his “border czar,” will report directly to him and oversee the response on the ground, as his administration faces mounting criticism from local and national leaders.
A huge rally took place despite the bitter cold in Minneapolis on Friday to protest the raids and the point-blank shooting by an ICE agent of protester Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, on January 7.
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