Gregory Bovino, the hard-charging Border Patrol Chief who became the face of aggressive immigration crackdowns, has been pushed out of his high-ranking role running federal operations in Minneapolis.

According to The Atlantic, a Department of Homeland Security official and two others familiar with the move say Bovino has been removed as “commander at large” and sent back to his old Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon.

​This shake-up comes after agents under Bovino’s command shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse who worked with veterans, during a protest in Minneapolis over the weekend. It’s the second known fatal shooting by federal officers in the city this month. Officials were already under intense scrutiny after an ICE agent fatally shot mother and poet, Renee Good, weeks earlier.

At a press conference after Pretti’s killing, Bovino repeated claims from Homeland Security that Pretti planned to “massacre” federal agents. This was despite multiple eyewitness accounts, expert analyses, and multiple videos from the scene proving otherwise.

Bovino has long attracted criticism from civil rights advocates, who say he helped normalize far-from-the-border raids—which target inland cities, workplaces, and residences— and harsh tactics that put immigrant communities and protesters in danger.

A federal judge once said use of force by agents during a Chicago operation he oversaw “shocks the conscience,” and noted that Bovino admitted he lied about using tear gas at a protest.

DHS also previously settled a lawsuit brought by two Black Border Patrol employees after evidence surfaced of a racist email exchange involving one of Bovino’s preferred hires. It’s one of multiple incidents involving racism during his career, which began in 1996. In the decades since, Bovino rose in the ranks, running raids and operations across the U.S. Though it was the tactics used in Kern County, CA., that set the stage for the current raids seen in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Chicago.

Referred to as “Operation Return to Sender,” under Bovino’s leadership, officers used questionable tactics — including denying detainees legal counsel, slashing tires during blockades, and using excessive force. A federal judge later ruled the tactics used in "Operation Return to Sender" were illegal.

While DHS isn’t calling Bovino’s demotion a firing, the move is a clear indication of his slow and steady exit.  With his title gone, his social media access reportedly cut off, and his return ticket stamped for the desert, Bovino’s exit signals a quiet moment of public accountability for one of the most visible enforcers of the administration’s immigration agenda.