In brief
Greg Bovino, ex‑chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the August Minneapolis raids and called the subsequent withdrawal of agents a 'surrender' by the Trump administration. He dismissed the lawsuit by the family of Renee Good, who was killed in the operation, accusing the family of merely "doing lawsuits all the time." After the operation, Bovino was removed from his post; the White House replaced him with Tom Homan. Despite the controversy, Bovino has continued to espouse hard‑line immigration policies and hinted at a potential 2028 presidential run.
Greg Bovino, the former chief of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency who was at the centre of the August raids in Minneapolis, has called the withdrawal of his agents from the city a “surrender” by the Trump administration, according to a BBC interview.
Bovino dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of Renee Good, who was shot during the operation, saying that “people do lawsuits all the time” and that he was “not responding” to the claim. He praised the agents in Minneapolis as “real victims” of an unprecedented wave of violence, even though the raids ended with the deaths of Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens, in January.
The operation, which removed more than 700 immigration agents from Minnesota, sparked bipartisan backlash and forced President Trump to withdraw the force and eventually replace Bovino with White House aide Tom Homan. The Justice Department has since described the lawsuits brought by Good’s family as “baseless.”
After leaving the agency, Bovino has become a vocal hard‑line advocate, claiming without evidence that 100 million people are living illegally in the United States and calling for massive deportations that would involve “cruise ships packed to the gills.” He has hinted at a possible presidential run in 2028 and has addressed far‑right rallies in Michigan demanding the deportation of Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed.
Image caption: Bovino recently addressed a rally by activists in Michigan who are calling for authorities to deport Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed.
