With his heavily gelled buzz cut and his willingness to use violence against peaceful protestors, Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, the public face of President Donald Trump’s deportation spree and a so-called “commander at large,” seemed straight out of central casting. His aggressive tactics and flair for the dramatic made Bovino the perfect avatar for an immigration policy designed to prioritize spreading fear and pain over accuracy and efficiency.
When a federal agent shot and killed Renee Good in her SUV in Minneapolis this month, Bovino continued to encourage his agents’ confrontations with demonstrators and observers. Only when a Border Patrol agent under his command fired his gun into Alex Pretti was Bovino hustled out of Minnesota and back to his base in southern California.
Bovino being sent away was a begrudging acknowledgment from the Trump administration that it’s losing the public relations war. But it’s inaccurate to say he was “demoted” from his role as “commander at large” because that position doesn’t officially exist.
And more importantly, it’s likely that the forces he marshaled in the field will march on without him.
The Senate managed to pass a funding package hours before the midnight deadline, but with the House not slated to return until Monday, the partial shutdown will stretch over the weekend. Read more.
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