He Led The Nation’s Most Aggressive Immigration Sweeps. Now He’s Set To Retire.

El Centro Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, who was known for his aggressive roving patrols in major American cities, will soon retire.

Bovino was tapped to lead aggressive raids in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Minneapolis, where he was eventually replaced after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January. He soon became the face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign and was seen walking around cities accompanied by federal agents as they conducted roving patrols.

President Donald Trump replaced Bovino with border czar Tom Homan in the aftermath of the deadly shootings.

After Minneapolis, Bovino was sent back to his post at the border, ending his long reign leading the aggressive immigration sweeps across the country.

While serving as a commander for the at-large operations across the country, Bovino has aligned himself with outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, advocating for increasing arrest numbers and putting on a show of force, as previously reported by The Daily Wire. Homan, however, has long advocated for ditching quotas and focusing on nabbing the worst criminals first.

The Border Patrol official plans to leave the agency at the end of March after serving the agency since the 1990s.

“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced,” Bovino told Breitbart Sunday, adding, “Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling.”

Bovino’s retirement coincides with Noem’s exit as Homeland Security secretary at the end of the month. Leading up to her firing, Noem faced backlash for tagging Pretti as a domestic terrorist without waiting for a federal investigation into the fatal shooting to conclude.

Bovino also apparently got ahead of an investigation, claiming Pretti intended to “massacre” federal agents.

Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker weighed in on Bovino’s expected exit, writing on X Monday that “Bovino won’t just get to walk away,” adding that “he will be held accountable and responsible for the damage he’s done to our nation.”

Greg Bovino won’t just get to walk away — he will be held accountable and responsible for the damage he’s done to our nation.

We won’t forget, and neither should you.

No one is above the law. https://t.co/s5BUFt7lT1

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) March 16, 2026