In a radical policy shift, Border Patrol commander at large Greg Bovino, who has been at the forefront of ICE immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been demoted and is leaving the city. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that Bovino would be returning to his previous role in El Centro, California. In his place, the president is dispatching his “border czar, Tom Homan to supervise enforcement activities in the state.
Bovino Became Public Enemy Number One
In the seven months he has been in his current role, Bovino has drawn the ire of people on both ends of the political spectrum. He has led federal immigration enforcement activities in Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and now Minneapolis. Bovino became the voice of the enforcement raids, defying local officials by denying that excessive force was used in arrests, blaming the incidents on unruly protestors.
He was also frequently confrontational in conversations regarding ICE’s disregard for due process for the detainees. His dismissal comes two days after the shooting death of peaceful protester, Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed in Minneapolis by federal agents after trying to help a female protester who was being attacked by the agents.
Video evidence, from several different angles, clearly shows that while Pretti was legally armed, he never attempted to draw his weapon to threaten the federal officials. And it’s a little over two weeks since Renee Nicole Good was shamelessly killed by agent Jonathan Ross as she tried to exit a protest also in Minneapolis.
More Possible Changes to ICE Enforcement
Besides Bovino’s demotion and Homans assignment to Minnesota, the Trump administration appears to be taking other steps to de-escalate the tense situation in Minneapolis. In a post today on his social media site, “Truth Social,” the president wrote that he and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke by phone and had a positive conversation about how to ease the tension in the state caused by federal enforcement activities there.
He later posted that he had a similar conversation with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and that Frey would be meeting with Homan tomorrow. And Bovino’s head may not be the only one on the chopping block. Rumors persist that Bovino supporters, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and her close adviser Corey Lewandowski are in real danger of losing their jobs. That would constitute the biggest shakeup in the Trump administration since he took office a year ago.
Time Will Tell
Greg Bovino was the federal face of evil in conjunction with aggressive immigration enforcement in several cities. Certainly, his demotion and reassignment should reduce the tension that exists in Minnesota. And the president’s positive phone conversations with local officials today are hopefully a portent of better days ahead. But with the unpredictability of Trump and his administration, time will tell if these actions lead to lasting peace in Minnesota.
