Minneapolis withdrawal was 'surrender', Trump's ex-border patrol chief tells BBC

What the report says

Greg Bovino, the former US Border Patrol chief who became the public face of a controversial immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, has defended the operation in an interview with the BBC. He said the decision to pull agents out of the city amounted to a “surrender” by the Trump administration and criticized the scale of deportations after the withdrawal. Bovino also said he was not reacting to a lawsuit brought by the family of a woman killed during the operation.

The BBC reports that the Minneapolis deployment followed the shooting deaths of two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of which were captured on video and prompted protests and bipartisan criticism. Trump later said his administration would “de-escalate” and withdrew hundreds of immigration agents from the state. Bovino was removed from his role shortly afterward, and the White House border official Tom Homan took over the operation.

Good’s family has since filed civil lawsuits against the Trump administration, including claims of wrongful death and civil-rights conspiracy. Their lawyers say Bovino and other officials should be held accountable, while the White House has called the claims baseless. Bovino, speaking in Detroit, said he wished the operation had been even more aggressive and described his agents as the real victims.

The BBC account places Bovino’s comments in the broader context of a hardline immigration stance that has made him a prominent and sometimes more outspoken figure than other Trump officials. It also notes, as background, that he has since retired from Border Patrol and has continued to promote tougher enforcement measures.