Former US border patrol chief calls Minneapolis pull‑out a “surrender”

Greg Bovino, the former US border‑patrol chief who led the controversial deportation operation in Minneapolis, told the BBC that the withdrawal of immigration agents from the city was a “surrender” by the Trump administration.

Bovino, 56, said he was “not responding” to a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Renee Good, a US citizen shot dead during the operation in January. He dismissed the legal action, noting that “people do lawsuits all the time” and praised the officers deployed to Minneapolis.

The operation, which saw hundreds of ICE agents deployed, ended after the fatal shootings of Good and Alex Pretti were captured on video, sparking bipartisan backlash and protests. President Donald Trump subsequently announced a de‑escalation and withdrew roughly 700 agents from Minnesota.

Good’s family has filed two lawsuits alleging wrongful death and a conspiracy to interfere with protesters’ civil rights, naming Bovino, agent Jonathan Ross and other senior officials. Their lawyers described Bovino’s comments as “propaganda” and said they look forward to his deposition.

Aftermath

Following the pull‑out, Bovino was removed from his post and the operation was taken over by White House “border tsar” Tom Homan. Bovino has since retired from the US border patrol and continues to advocate for stricter immigration enforcement.

Source: BBC News. Photo: Hans Eiskonen / Pexels.