Former Border Chief Says Federal Agents Were Pulled From Minneapolis

About 700 immigration agents left Minnesota after two US citizens were shot dead during a federal deportation operation in Minneapolis, and the official who led that operation now calls the pullback a surrender by the Trump administration. Greg Bovino, 56, discussed the withdrawal in an interview with the BBC, saying the administration "threw the towel in" and that deportations have reached a "virtual standstill".

Bovino spoke in Detroit, where he was campaigning for tougher immigration enforcement. He said he regrets "not going harder in Minnesota and arresting even more illegal aliens" and called his agents the "real victims" of what he described as the most violence any law enforcement mission has faced in US history. Bovino was removed from his post shortly after Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both US citizens, were shot dead in January. Video captured both shootings, and the killings drew bipartisan criticism and protests. President Donald Trump said at the time he was "going to de-escalate a little bit" before pulling agents out; Tom Homan, the White House "border tsar", then took over the operation.

Two civil lawsuits filed this month by Good's family name Bovino and Jonathan Ross, the agent who shot Good, alleging wrongful death and conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of protesters. The filing argues the operation created "an unprecedented environment for state-sponsored violence". A White House spokeswoman has called the suits "baseless". Bovino said he is "not responding" to the litigation and that "people do lawsuits all the time". The family's lawyers said he was "spewing propaganda" and cannot be "judge, jury and executioner", adding that they "look forward to the depositions of Mr Bovino and all of the defendants in this matter".

Asked by the BBC whether video evidence undercut his claim that Good and Pretti intended to harm agents, Bovino said: "The evidence is that violence was perpetrated against agents of the US government, and this is a society of laws and people need to follow the law. If not, there are consequences." Trump initially said Good "violently, willfully and viciously ran over the ICE officer". Weeks later he called her death a "tragedy" and said agents were sometimes "going to make a mistake".

Bovino said he does not know why he was removed, telling the BBC: "You'd have to ask the administration. I still haven't gotten the final word on that." Kristi Noem, who was Homeland Security secretary during the operation, was fired by Trump in March. Bovino has since retired from the border patrol.

Bovino has called for "total spectrum immigration enforcement" with military backing and has claimed without evidence that 100 million people are in the US illegally. A White House spokesperson said Trump "delivered the largest reduction in illegal immigration in modern history" and that more than 3 million illegal aliens have left the country under his policies. Bovino said he is "exploring" a 2028 presidential run, saying: "If politicians aren't going to step up and do their job then you might see something happen." He recently spoke at a rally in Michigan where activists called for the deportation of Abdul El-Sayed, a US-born citizen and Democratic Senate candidate.