Gregory Bovino's Legacy: Lies, Violence, and Unchecked Federal Power

Gregory Bovino, the United States Border Protection commander at large and head of “Operation Metro Surge,” the ongoing immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, was reassigned from his post on Monday, reports the Associated Press. He will be replaced by border czar Tom Homan. This sudden changing of the guard comes in the wake of Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, which yet again spotlighted the aggressive tactics and lies that immigration agents have employed under Bovino’s command. 

Mere hours after Saturday’s shooting, Bovino described the shooting immigration officer as “fearing for his life” after Pretti “approached immigration agents with a 9mm, semi-automatic handgun.” Bovino said, “Agents attempted to disarm [Pretti], but he violently resisted,” prompting defensive shots. Bovino went further, saying that Pretti’s two loaded magazines and lack of accessible identification “looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller echoed similar statements. 

Not only did this description of Saturday morning’s fatal shooting fail to align with available video evidence—which depicts federal agents as the primary aggressors and shows Pretti, who never reached for his holstered weapon, fully disarmed before the first shot was fired—but it also caused backlash from Second Amendment and other right-of-center groups, prompting even President Donald Trump to distance himself from the narrative. Although Trump said Bovino will continue to serve Customs and Border Protection in El Centro, California, rumors are swirling that Bovino will soon retire. As Reason‘s Liz Wolfe writes, Bovino is being “put out to pasture.” 

After nearly three decades in the U.S. Border Patrol and a short tenure as commander at large, Bovino leaves behind a legacy of lies, violence, and unaccountable immigration enforcement.

Over the last seven months, Bovino has served as the public face of Trump’s immigration crackdown after leading an aggressive immigration operation across Southern California. As chief patrol agent of these operations in the summer of 2025, Bovino unveiled a new type of unapologetically confrontational immigration enforcement, carried out by masked agents in tactical gear, unafraid to racially profile or smash windows.

Following his twisted definition of success in California, Bovino took his command to Chicago. “Operation Midway Blitz” kicked off in September, where Bovino continued in what local officials described to CNN as a “frighteningly authoritarian” style of immigration enforcement. Under his command, federal agents ripped through the streets of Chicago, conducting high-profile immigration raids. When met with citizens protesting unlawful arrests, Bovino ordered officers to push back with nonlethal, riot control weapons. 

The result was chaos: Agents shooting a pastor in the head with a tear gas canister, needlessly pepper-spraying a family with an infant on their morning grocery run, and pointing firearms at a protester and combat veteran while saying, “Bang, bang…you’re dead, liberal.” This kind of excessive force used against protestors and bystanders alike prompted a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of “extreme brutality” meant to “silence the press and civilians” protesting immigration enforcement. 

Eventually, Bovino himself was called into court to answer for allegations of excessive force in violation of a federal temporary restraining order designed to curtail immigration agents’ use of nonlethal weapons against nonviolent protestors. Caught on video lobbing a tear gas canister into a crowd of nonviolent protesters, Bovino and the DHS claimed he acted in response to being struck in the head by a rock thrown by a protester. Bovino later admitted in federal court that he lied about the rock. This lie and other shocking evidence of excessive force led a federal judge to say that the Justice Department’s arguments defending Bovino and his agents “lack credibility.” 

But this lie was far from the last. During Bovino’s command, immigration agents and the DHS continuously lied about who they were arresting and how they were conducting arrests. One such egregious example includes the nonfatal shooting of Marimar Martinez, who was shot five times by agents in Chicago. Initially, the DHS claimed Martinez “rammed” her car into an agent’s car and that she was armed with a “semi-automatic weapon,” forcing officers to fire defensive shots. But bodycam footage contradicted their claim, and Martinez was cleared of any wrongdoing. 

Faced with mounting federal lawsuits in Chicago, Operation Midway Blitz began to wind down in December. Bovino oversaw a deportation campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana, before arriving in Minneapolis in early January. In addition to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Pretti, immigration officers have continued to use excessive force against protestors, conduct unlawful warrantless arrests, and now claim the unconstitutional authority to forcibly enter an individual’s home without a proper judicial warrant. 

While Bovino’s forced reassignment is generally a positive step, it does not mean federal immigration agents will stop violating constitutional rights. Noem, who has led the administration’s disinformation campaign, remains in office and appears to still have Trump’s backing. Homan, with his own lack of regard for rights or the rule of law, is no solution either. 

While it’s good to see someone like Bovino removed from a position of authority where he will no longer endanger lives, do not forget that true accountability lies with President Donald Trump himself.

The post Gregory Bovino’s Legacy: Lies, Violence, and Unchecked Federal Power appeared first on Reason.com.

Source: https://reason.com/2026/01/28/gregory-bovinos-legacy-lies-violence-and-unchecked-federal-power/