Top Border Patrol Official Gregory Bovino Plans to Retire

Bovino was removed from his leading role in Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens.

U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-large Gregory Bovino seen here in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 17, 2025. Matt Kelley/AP Photo

Customs and Border Protection commander-at-large Gregory Bovino, who has led federal immigration raids in several major cities, said on March 15 that he will retire from the agency at the end of March.

Bovino made the announcement during an interview with Breitbart Texas but did not specify the reason for his decision to retire or indicate whether he had formally notified the agency.

“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced,” he said.

“Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling,” Bovino added.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email that Bovino has not submitted any retirement paperwork.

Bovino joined the Border Patrol in 1996 in California’s El Centro sector and was assigned by the Trump administration last year to lead its immigration operations in some of the nation’s largest cities.

He had led immigration enforcement operations in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Minneapolis, which resulted in the arrests of thousands of illegal immigrants.

More than 5,000 illegal immigrants convicted of crimes were arrested during operations in Los Angeles between June and August 2025, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The crackdown triggered legal challenges from officials who were opposed to federal immigration enforcement.

In October 2025, Judge Sara Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered Bovino to appear in court every weekday to report on federal immigration enforcement in Chicago. The order was later blocked by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

In January, Bovino was removed from his leading role in Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens—Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24—during immigration enforcement operations in the city.

President Donald Trump later assigned border czar Tom Homan to take over and oversee immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, as well as to investigate fraud in state programs.

During a Fox News interview aired on Jan. 27, Trump said of Bovino’s departure from Minnesota: “I don’t think it’s a pullback. It’s a little bit of a change. Everybody in this room that has a business ... you make little changes. You know, Bovino’s very good, but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy, and in some cases, that’s good; maybe it wasn’t good here.”

In a Jan. 26 social media post, Trump said that Homan has not been involved in operations in Minnesota but that Homan is familiar with many officials there.