By STEVE KARNOWSKI and MIKE BALSAMO Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A senior Border Patrol commander and some agents are expected to leave Minneapolis as early as Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, as President Donald Trump dispatched his border czar to Minnesota to take charge of much the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
The departure of Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who has been at the center of the administration’s aggressive enforcement surge in cities nationwide, marks a significant public shift in federal law enforcement posture amid mounting outrage over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents.
The border czar, Tom Homan, will take charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
The person familiar with the matter was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats.
Criticism has increased around Bovino in the last few days after his public defense of the Pretti shooting and disputed claims about the confrontation that led to his death.
In other developments, Trump declared that he was now on a “similar wavelength” as the governor following the second fatal shooting by federal immigration officers this month.
