US Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, who has been at the centre of fierce criticism following a second fatal shooting amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, is expected to leave the city on Tuesday along with other agents, according to officials.
In response to rising furore, US President Donald Trump has scaled back federal presence in Minneapolis and replaced Bovino with his border czar Tom Homan, US media reported overnight on Tuesday.
The decision comes after 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration officers, intensifying scrutiny of the crackdown and sparking widespread protests against the presence of federal immigration agents in the state.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other lawmakers demanded that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents be withdrawn from the state.
"All Alex ever wanted was to help someone — anyone. Even in his very last moments on this earth," Pretti's younger sister, Micayla Pretti, wrote in a statement on Monday.
"When does this end? How many more innocent lives must be lost before we say enough?" the statement added.
Just a few weeks earlier, 37-year-old Renée Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer while she was behind the wheel of her car.
Bovino has become the face of the immigration enforcement operation, drawing fresh condemnation for claiming that Pretti had been carrying a gun and was planning to "massacre" law enforcement officers, despite video footage filmed from several angles showing Pretti holding a cell phone in his hand, and no sign of him wielding a weapon.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the hotel where Bovino was believed to be staying, blowing whistles, banging pots and, at one point, even blasting a trombone in a noisy demonstration aimed at disrupting federal agents inside.
The US Border Patrol commander also faced fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats for his leading role in highly visible federal crackdowns.
Bovino has frequently appeared at anti-ICE protests, often without his face covered, unlike other agents. He is easily recognisable for his distinctive long army-green overcoat, which has drawn comparisons to those of the Gestapo, the secret police in Nazi Germany.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom said Bovino was dressed up as if he "literally went on eBay and purchased SS garb".
Speaking to local media, Bovino responded by saying the coat was "Border Patrol issued," adding that he "had it for over 25 years".
Trump has 'very good call' with Walz
In what appeared to be a thaw in their relationship, Trump said he had a “very good call” with Democratic Governor Tim Walz and that the two “seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
Walz, on his end, described the call on social media platform X as "productive" and called on the White House to launch impartial investigations.
"The president must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now," he wrote in a separate post.
The US president also spoke with Mayor Frey, similarly calling it a "very good telephone conversation".
"Lots of progress is being made. Tom Homan will be meeting with him tomorrow in order to continue the discussion," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
