Gregory Bovino, the chief of Customs and Border Protection, is set to retire at the end of March, concluding a 30-year career with the agency. His retirement marks another significant exit from President Trump’s immigration enforcement team.
Bovino was compelled to leave Minneapolis in January following a Border Patrol incident in which Alex Pretti, an armed protester against ICE, was shot.
His departure comes in the wake of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s reassignment, with whom Bovino had a close association.
During his tenure, Bovino spearheaded Border Patrol operations in major American cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Minneapolis. These raids resulted in thousands of arrests, including those of convicted gang members, murderers, and child sex offenders.
“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,” Bovino, 55, told Breitbart.
Bovino was a prominent figure in Trump’s national immigration crackdown, often clashing with liberal politicians in sanctuary cities who resisted enforcement actions by the agents.
“Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling,” he told the outlet.
