Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol commander who helmed President Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis before being sidelined, will soon retire, according to a news report.
Chief Bovino told Breitbart Texas that he will leave at the end of the month.
“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,” he told the conservative website. “Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling.”
He serves as chief of the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector in California, but previously had been tapped to be commander-at-large, where he led surges in major cities.
He brought Customs and Border Protection personnel to reinforce U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which traditionally handles interior enforcement.
That included being the face of the operation in Chicago, where he led from the front lines and wasn’t shy about tangling with protesters. In one infamous incident, he was caught on video tossing a tear gas canister at demonstrators.
He initially said he only threw the canister after being pelted with a rock, but a federal judge said he “lied” about that chain of events.
Chief Bovino was then sent to lead the surge in Minnesota, where two U.S. citizen protesters were shot and killed during confrontations with Homeland Security agents and officers.
After the second death, Chief Bovino was ushered out of his role as head of the surges and returned to his post in California. White House border czar Tom Homan was put in charge to oversee a drawdown of personnel in Minnesota.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.