Minneapolis withdrawal was 'surrender', Trump's ex-border patrol chief tells BBC

Greg Bovino used “surrender” to condemn the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw immigration agents from Minneapolis. He believed the operation should have continued with more arrests and deportations. His wording shows how sharply he disagreed with the administration’s attempt to reduce tensions after two fatal shootings.

Bovino said the administration “threw the towel in” and that deportations were now at a “virtual standstill.” He also said he regretted “not going harder in Minnesota and arresting even more illegal aliens.” The withdrawal involved about 700 immigration agents leaving Minnesota.

The term was Bovino’s political judgment, not a formal description of the operation. Trump said he would “de-escalate a little bit,” and the White House later defended its immigration record. Bovino’s comments show an ongoing split between his hardline approach and the administration’s decision to scale back in Minneapolis.

Greg Bovino was the former US border patrol chief who became the public face of the controversial deportation operation in Minneapolis. He was 56 and known for a hardline immigration stance. His public comments often went further than statements from other Trump officials, including calls for broad enforcement supported by the military.

Bovino defended the agents deployed to Minneapolis and called them the “real victims” of the operation’s violence. He said he regretted not going harder and arresting more people he described as illegal aliens. He also rejected claims that video evidence disproved his account of the shootings.

After President Trump ordered a de-escalation and hundreds of agents left Minnesota, Bovino was removed from his post. He said he still had not received the final explanation for his removal. He has since retired from the US border patrol and has discussed possibly running for president in 2028.

The withdrawal removed about 700 immigration agents from Minnesota. It followed President Trump’s statement that he would “de-escalate a little bit” after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. The scale of the pullback made it a major change in the Minneapolis operation.

The operation had been publicly defended by Greg Bovino, who was the former US border patrol chief. After the withdrawal, Bovino was removed from his post. The article does not give a separate breakdown of which agencies supplied all 700 agents, but it describes them broadly as immigration agents.

Tom Homan, the White House “border tsar,” took over the operation. Bovino called the decision a “surrender” and said deportations were at a “virtual standstill.” The White House instead said Trump’s policies had produced the largest reduction in illegal immigration in modern history.

Renee Good and Alex Pretti were US citizens who were fatally shot during the Minneapolis immigration operation in January. The shootings were captured on video. Their deaths became the central crisis surrounding the operation because the videos intensified public scrutiny of how immigration agents handled encounters with civilians.

The shootings triggered widespread protests and a bipartisan backlash. Trump initially blamed Good’s actions, saying she had violently driven into an ICE officer. Weeks later, he called her death a tragedy and said agents sometimes make mistakes. Bovino continued to argue that the two people intended to harm government agents.

Trump then said he would “de-escalate a little bit” and withdrew hundreds of immigration agents from the city. About 700 agents left Minnesota, and Tom Homan took over the operation. The shootings also led to lawsuits from Good’s family and Bovino’s removal from his post.

Renee Good’s family filed two civil lawsuits against the Trump administration over her killing. The lawsuits allege wrongful death and a conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of protesters. They argue that the government’s Minneapolis operation created “an unprecedented environment for state-sponsored violence.”

One lawsuit names Greg Bovino and Jonathan Ross, the agent who shot Good. It names them for their “respective individual roles” in the operation that led to her death. The family’s lawyers said Bovino was “spewing propaganda” and could not act as “judge, jury and executioner.”

The allegations remain claims in civil litigation, not findings that the defendants are legally responsible. The lawyers said they looked forward to depositions from Bovino and all defendants. A White House spokeswoman previously called the lawsuits “baseless,” while Bovino said he was “not responding” to the legal action.

A civil lawsuit gives Renee Good’s family a legal route to seek accountability for an alleged wrongful death and civil-rights violations. It can ask a court for financial damages and, in some cases, other remedies. Filing a case begins a legal process; it does not establish that the defendants caused the death.

The process can require defendants and witnesses to provide documents, answer questions, and give depositions. That is why Good’s lawyers said they looked forward to Bovino’s deposition and those of the other defendants. A judge may later decide whether claims can proceed, while a trial or settlement may resolve the dispute.

A civil case is separate from a criminal prosecution. It generally cannot send defendants to prison or automatically invalidate government actions. Here, the White House called the lawsuits “baseless,” while the family alleges wrongful death and a conspiracy involving protesters’ civil rights.

ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency responsible for immigration enforcement inside the United States. It can identify, arrest, detain, and seek the removal of noncitizens who violate immigration laws. Deportation is the formal removal of someone from the country under federal immigration authority.

In general, ICE officers may arrest people based on immigration law and agency procedures, including administrative warrants or other lawful authority. Immigration cases can involve detention, hearings, appeals, and review by immigration officials or courts. The government must still respect constitutional protections, limits on force, and other legal requirements.

The Minneapolis operation involved immigration agents and produced the shootings, protests, and lawsuits described here. The article does not detail the agents’ warrants or each person’s immigration status. It does report that Bovino called for more deportations, while the Trump administration later withdrew about 700 agents and shifted control to Tom Homan.