Greg Bovino set to retire after exile from prime Border Patrol job

Former Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino is set to retire just months after he was removed from his job arresting and deporting illegal immigrants in Minneapolis. 

Bovino, 55, who had close ties to exiting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will officially leave his post at the end of March, multiple sources told ABC News.

He spent recent months serving as commander-at-large for CBP during multiple federal operations in major cities, carrying out Donald Trump‘s immigration crackdown.  

The Daily Mail has reached out to Customs and Border Protection for comment. 

In late January, Bovino was abruptly reassigned from Minneapolis, where he had overseen a highly controversial federal immigration crackdown that sparked nationwide protests and political backlash following the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good at the hands of federal agents.

Bovino,who was dubbed ‘little Napoleon’, and Noem were both sidelined in favor of Border Czar Tom Homan. 

President Donald Trump withdrew Bovino from the operation following public outcry over the tactics used by federal agents and fatal confrontations during enforcement actions.

The administration replaced him with border czar Tom Homan, who pledged to scale back tensions and bring a different approach to the volatile situation.

Bovino was a central figure in aggressive immigration enforcement strategies, embracing rapid-response operations designed to quickly detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally. 

His leadership style and tactics had made him one of the most visible figures in federal immigration enforcement and his reassignment marked a significant shift in leadership at a time of mounting political pressure.

Following the unrest and fatal encounters in Minneapolis, the White House moved to replace him amid concerns over escalating tensions and public backlash. 

Bovino had previously served as the Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro Sector of the Border Patrol in southern California before he was elevated during the second Trump administration. 

He initially sparked fury in the White House when he claimed Pretti intended to ‘massacre’ federal agents.

Noem had also branded the ICU nurse a ‘domestic terrorist’ and claimed he brandished a firearm, sparking further frustration among administration officials. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt distanced Trump from Noem’s language in the following days, arguing that it was not a position that the President had taken.

Bovino is a loyalist to Noem and her rumored lover Corey Lewandowski, and the pair quietly pushed him as a potential replacement for current Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott, a longtime ally of Homan.

Noem sought to sideline Scott by having Bovino report directly to her, an unprecedented move within the agency.

Bovino’s removal from Minneapolis underscored Noem’s fading standing with the White House as Trump dispatched Homan and his closest allies to seize control of the operation on the ground. 

Noem left her position last week, and was reassigned to become the Special Envoy for the new ‘Shield of the Americas’ initiative. 

A Border Patrol veteran of 30 years, Bovino’s aggressive tactics, often highly choreographed public displays, sparked backlash from local officials.

He often stood out as the only agent not wearing a face covering when Border Patrol descended on Home Depots and gas stations. 

He went viral on social media as he was frequently spotted on the frontlines sporting a severe buzzcut and trench coat, which German media has likened to a ‘Nazi aesthetic.’

California Governor Gavin Newsom said on X: ‘Greg Bovino dressed up as if he literally went on eBay and purchased SS garb. Greg Bovino, secret police, private army, masked men, people disappearing quite literally, no due process.’

Bovino hit back, claiming he had the coat for more than 25 years and it was official Border Patrol merchandise. 

Jenn Budd, an author and expert on Border Patrol, described Bovino as ‘the Liberace’ of the agency. 

‘He was just a little Napoleon who wants you to think that he is the most moral and capable guy in the world, and everything around you is dangerous but he’s the one who’s going to save you,’ Budd told The Times. ‘It’s all a show for him.’

He once invited journalists to watch him swim across a canal in Southern California’s Imperial Valley in a bid to deter migrants considering the crossing. 

After Trump was re-elected, Bovino used similar public relations expertise to catch the president’s eye. 

He sent dozens of agents to arrest migrants at gas stations along the highway ahead of Trump’s inauguration. 

Asked why Bovino was chosen to lead the force former Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told reporters bluntly: ‘Because he’s a badass.’

But while Bovino’s strongman image earned him Trump’s respect, his self-proclaimed ‘turn and  burn’ enforcement strategies have sparked concern.

A federal judge accused Bovino in November of being ‘evasive’ and at times ‘outright lying’ in sworn testimony about an immigration crackdown in Chicago, finding his account ‘simply not credible.’ 

Judge Sara Ellis wrote that Bovino even admitted he lied about being hit with a rock before ordering tear gas used, and noted that video evidence flatly contradicted his claim that he never tackled a protester.