Greg Bovino, the hard-charging Border Patrol commander who led some of the largest interior immigration operations in American history, used his final days in federal service to lob grenades at the very officials running the enforcement apparatus he helped build. In a statement to NewsNation and a separate interview with The New York Times, the retiring official called border czar Tom Homan a "capitulator" and labeled Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott "liberal", charges that drew a sharp rebuke from the White House.
The broadside, reported by The Hill on Tuesday, lands at a moment when the Trump administration's immigration enforcement team is already dealing with turnover and political headwinds. Bovino's exit caps a turbulent stretch that saw him demoted after two people were killed in Minneapolis during a federal immigration operation he oversaw.
Whatever one thinks of Bovino's style, and there is plenty to debate, his parting shots tell us less about Homan and Scott than about the kind of internal friction that can hobble an enforcement mission when discipline breaks down and egos take over.
Bovino framed his attacks around the killing of Sheridan Gorman, a Loyola University student whose fatal shooting has been linked to a man who DHS said entered the country illegally. In his statement, Bovino went directly at the two men running immigration enforcement:
"The Gorman family is burying their daughter this week, and liberal [Customs and Border Protection] commissioner Rodney Scott and capitulator Tommy Homan say and do nothing, which is how we got in this mess in the first place."
He also called leadership "weak-kneed." And in a separate New York Times interview, Bovino said he wished he had done even more. "I wish I'd caught even more illegal aliens," he told the paper. "I mean, we went as hard as we could, but there's always a creative and innovative solution to catching even more."
The White House did not let the attacks stand. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson issued a statement to NewsNation's Hannah Brandt defending both officials:
"Tom Homan and Rodney Scott are American patriots and career law enforcement officials. They have done an excellent job implementing President Trump's agenda which has resulted in the most secure border in American history. The American people are safer because of the Trump Administration's America First policies."
Both DHS and Customs and Border Protection declined to comment further.
Before his demotion, Bovino served as commander-at-large of the Border Patrol and was one of the most visible figures in the administration's interior enforcement push. He led raids in Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Breitbart reported that DHS described the Minneapolis operation Bovino directed, dubbed "Operation Metro Surge", as the largest interior mobilization of agents for immigration law enforcement in the agency's history. Bovino served nearly 30 years with the agency.
His tenure was not without serious controversy. Two people in Minneapolis were killed during operations under his command, after which the administration removed him from that role. The Washington Examiner noted that his departure follows the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was reassigned as special envoy, part of broader turmoil inside Trump's DHS leadership during the Minnesota immigration fallout.
Bovino also drew scrutiny for his rhetoric. A recording captured him giving what The Hill described as a "pep talk" to officials in California, where he told them to use force against anyone who touched agents:
"Just as many people that touch you as you want to. Those are the general orders all the way to the top. Everybody f‑‑‑ing gets it if they touch you. You hear what I'm saying. Less lethals. We're gonna look at shipping tractor-trailer loads of that s‑‑‑ in here.... It's all about us now. It ain't about them."
In the same recording, Bovino added: "You know what we're talking about, legal, ethical, moral, you're on camera. But other than that, it's what we do." He also declared, "This is our f‑‑‑ing city." The New York Times reported that during a speech to agents in New Orleans, Bovino called illegal immigrants "filth" and "trash."
In two cases, "less lethal" weapons deployed by officers left a protester blinded in one eye. Agents also used pepper spray against protesters during enforcement operations.
There is a version of Bovino's story that conservatives should find admirable. He clearly believed in the mission. He praised the agents he worked with in terms that ring sincere. "Those Border Patrol Agents, I'll miss dearly," he said. "They are the very best and the most hardcore I know of. Put any mission in front of them, anywhere and it WILL be accomplished. When the Green Team is not around bad things happen."
Newsmax reported that Bovino told The New York Times, "We wanted total border domination." That instinct, to enforce the law without apology, is exactly what millions of Americans voted for.
But wanting to fight and knowing how to lead are different things. Two people died under his command in Minneapolis. He was demoted. And now, on his way out the door, he is publicly trashing the officials the president chose to run immigration enforcement. The New York Post described his exit as the latest high-profile departure from the administration's enforcement apparatus, following Noem's reassignment, a period when Trump sent Homan to Minnesota to manage the fallout from intensifying protests.
That context matters. The administration was dealing with real consequences from the Minneapolis operation. Bovino's response, rather than accountability, was to call his superiors names.
Scott, for his part, has pushed back on the notion that the protests dogging enforcement operations are organic. During a February appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee, he said: "Paid agitators are actively trying to stop law enforcement action. Without that, you wouldn't even have any idea most of these arrests were taking place in many parts of the country." The Hill noted he made this claim without evidence that demonstrators were paid.
Whether or not Scott is right about paid agitators, the administration's enforcement mission faces real obstacles, from left-wing city governments, from activist networks, and from Senate Democrats who have blocked DHS funding while leaving Washington. The last thing that mission needs is a retired commander freelancing his grievances to the press.
The Trump administration has built the most aggressive interior enforcement program in decades. That work requires discipline, coordination, and officials who respect the chain of command. Bovino's parting words suggest he valued none of those things as much as he valued his own reputation.
The DHS leadership shakeups, from Noem's reassignment to Bovino's demotion to the ongoing fight over Markwayne Mullin's confirmation as the next DHS secretary, have given the administration's critics plenty of ammunition. Bovino just handed them more, gift-wrapped.
Conservatives who care about border security should want enforcers who are tough, competent, and accountable. Bovino was tough. His competence is a mixed record, historic operations on one hand, fatal outcomes and a demotion on the other. On accountability, the evidence speaks for itself: he's blaming everyone above him on the way out.
Homan and Scott were tasked with implementing the president's agenda. The White House says they have delivered the most secure border in American history. Bovino's claim that they are capitulators doesn't square with an enforcement posture that has drawn nonstop fire from the left, from sanctuary cities, and from congressional Democrats willing to shut down DHS rather than fund the mission.
The Gorman family deserves justice. The man charged in Sheridan Gorman's killing entered the country illegally, according to DHS. That tragedy demands enforcement, not infighting. And it demands leaders who can execute the mission without becoming the story.
Bovino wanted to be a warrior. He ended up being a distraction. The border mission is too important for either.
