Trump’s Border Enforcer to Leave Minnesota After Backlash

Описание: Bill Faries, Bloomberg News Senior Editor, discusses the growing backlash to the latest Minneapolis ICE shooting.

Greg Bovino, the US Border Patrol commander who became the face of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, is leaving the city following a mounting public outcry over the killing of two US citizens by federal agents in recent weeks.
Bovino and some Border Patrol agents are expected to begin departing as soon as Tuesday, according to local officials. The move follows protests, political turmoil and nationwide scrutiny of Operation Metro Surge, a federal enforcement effort that has posted thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota since last month. 
The White House said it’s dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis, where he will report directly to Trump and has been charged with easing tensions. Homan, a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will meet with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to discuss coordination between federal and local law enforcement.
Bovino had become a polarizing figure over his hardline tactics, including deploying chemical agents against protesters and his presence on the front lines of clashes between demonstrators and federal officers. 
Before the Minnesota operation, he led immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, North Carolina and New Orleans. In Chicago, a federal judge ordered him to wear a body camera and report daily to court as part of oversight of actions there.
The Atlantic reported on Monday that Bovino had been removed from his role as “commander at large” and was expected to return to his previous CBP position in Southern California. The Department of Homeland Security disputed that report, with Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson, saying in an email that “Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties.”

President Donald Trump said he was looking to “de-escalate” in Minnesota with a reshuffle of the leadership running his deportation effort in the state following widespread outcry over the killing of two US citizens by federal agents.
Still, the president denied he was pulling back his immigration crackdown and said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would remain in her post, as he looked to signal a recalibration rather than a retreat in the aftermath of the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent during an enforcement operation. 
“I don’t think it’s a pullback,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “It’s a little bit of a change.”
“We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” he added.

Trump’s decision to dispatch border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, effectively replacing Greg Bovino, the US Border Patrol commander who became the face of the contentious immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, spurred widespread speculation that the president may be frustrated with how his deportation efforts are being carried out and viewed by the public.
Trump insisted Tuesday that he remained largely satisfied with his immigration team and the way it has carried out operations — while also acknowledging that they may have inflamed tensions.
“You know, Bovino is very good but he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy,” Trump told Fox News. “And in some cases, that’s good. Maybe it wasn’t good here.”
Earlier, the president indicated he was pleased by the reaction to his decision to appoint Homan, a Noem rival within the administration seen as more focused on targeted enforcement than broad street operations.
“He’s meeting with the governor, and he’s meeting with the mayor, I think, later, and I hear that’s all going very well,” Trump said of Homan.
Homan is still a forceful proponent of Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Over the past year, he has threatened to prosecute California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, if they crossed “the line” during anti-deportation protests that shook Los Angeles. He also warned state and local officials who oppose federal enforcement efforts to “get the hell out of the way.”



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