Border Patrol ‘Commander’ Greg Bovino expected to return to El Centro

Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol “commander at large” who spent the past months leading immigration crackdowns across the country, is now expected to return to El Centro after being removed from his post, according to several news reports earlier this week. 

The change comes after public outrage in Minneapolis over federal agents fatally shooting protester Alex Jeffrey Pretti on Saturday. Pretti was the second protester in less than a month shot and killed by agents who had descended upon the city by the thousands since December. 

Bovino was hardly a household name when he left his post as chief patrol agent of the El Centro Sector last year to lead Border Patrol operations in major cities far from the U.S.-Mexico border: Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans and finally Minneapolis. 

Now, he’s reported to be returning to his former position in the quiet border region of Imperial County, home to a nearly 90% Latino population, having become the face of the federal government’s aggressive immigration enforcement that has shocked and disillusioned some Americans. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not return a request for comment about Bovino’s change in position. But Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin posted on X on Tuesday that “Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties” and that he “is a key part of the President’s team and a great American.” 

As the news of Bovino’s return spread this week, the reactions coming from communities in the El Centro Sector were mixed.

Raul Ruiz, Democratic congressman for California’s 25th District, said in a statement Wednesday that he was “alarmed” by the enforcement tactics overseen by Bovino as well as the killings of the two protesters, and called for a full investigation. 

Ruiz also said he was receiving concerns from local U.S. citizens “who are being racially profiled, pulled over, harassed, and pressured to prove their citizenship by showing passports.” He said that type of enforcement erodes trust, due process and community’s sense of safety.

“Imperial County should never be treated like a testing ground for extreme tactics that have sparked outrage and tragedy elsewhere,” Ruiz said.  

Armando Orozco, police chief in Calexico, a city on the southern border in Imperial County, wasn’t as concerned with how Bovino’s return would affect his community. His department has an agreement to work with Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Sector on local investigations. 

“I give him the benefit of the doubt at this point until the investigation’s done with,” Orozco said, referring to the Minnesota shooting. 

“Once that comes down that’s where I think we make our decisions, how we feel about ’em or not.” 

Orozco said Calecianos are used to seeing Border Patrol agents. Their vehicles are a frequent sight throughout Calexico, whose downtown area stares down the 30-foot border fence. He also noted that he only saw Bovino “from time to time” and that his department works with the agents in the Calexico station. 

“Obviously Calexico is different than Minneapolis,” Orozco said. 

Department of Homeland Security officials have said that federal immigration operations were focused on removing “the worst of the worst” from the country. But Bovino gained notoriety for the forceful tactics his agents employed against immigrants as well as U.S. citizens. 

Videos on social media, federal lawsuits naming Bovino and local reporting showed that where Bovino and his team went, clashes followed: agents smashing windows, pepper spraying protesters and detaining U.S. citizens.

After fatal shooting over the weekend, Bovino was among the Homeland Security officials defending the agents involved and claiming Pretti, who was carrying a gun, intended to “massacre” them. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CBS News that Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

Videos that bystanders recorded show half a dozen agents restraining Pretti on the ground, with one agent removing Pretti’s gun from the back of his waistband before another one shot him in the back, according to a video analysis by The New York Times.

Just before, Pretti is seen in videos filming agents with his phone and helping a woman whom another agent pushed to the ground. Two witnesses said in sworn testimony that Pretti did not brandish a gun when he approached the agents that day, The Guardian reported.

Weeks before, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed protester Renee Good, sparking earlier protests in the Twin Cities. Videos from witnesses of the shooting again inserted public skepticism into the official narrative that the officer was acting in self-defense. 

The president said Tuesday that there would be an investigation into the agents who shot Pretti and distanced himself from the initial federal response to the shooting. The two federal agents who shot Pretti were placed on leave Wednesday.  With Bovino’s departure, President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has arrived in Minnesota to take over Minnesota operations. 

Bovino was first assigned as chief patrol agent of the El Centro Sector in 2020. Under the Biden administration, he was temporarily reassigned from that position, something Bovino said was due to his participation in a congressional investigation into record high border crossings at the time.  He was reinstated about a month later after allegations that the reassignment was retaliation. 

Bovino said higher-ups in the administration were also unhappy with his criticism of California’s “sanctuary” law and profile picture on social media featuring Bovino in uniform with an assault rifle. 

Days before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, Bovino led an unusual raid in Kern County in Central California that foreshadowed the enforcement patterns that in coming months came to cities across the country.

Speaking just weeks after the Kern County raid, one of Bovino’s top agents told inewsource that it was a success, and they had plans for more. 

“It was a proof of concept,” said David Kim, assistant chief patrol agent under Bovino. “Testing our capabilities, and very successful. We know we can push beyond that limit now as far as distance goes.”

Marina Arteaga, an organizer with Imperial Liberation Collective and resident of Calexico, said her reaction to Bovino’s title change was twofold: She was glad to see him leave Minneapolis, but worried about what it meant for the Imperial Valley region.

“What is he gonna do in our community? That is my concern,” Arteaga said. But she knows some people in the area have also been supportive of Border Patrol, with many having lived with their presence in the border community. 

“He’ll come back to some people as a hero and he’ll come back to other people as a villain,” Arteaga said. 

The Atlantic, a national news publication, reported on Monday that Bovino is expected to retire “soon.” But officials with the El Centro Sector did not return a request for comment by time of publication. 

Border Patrol agents generally are mandated to retire by age 57. Bovino is 55.