President Donald Trump on Monday signaled a new approach to his deportation operation in Minneapolis, pulling out Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, the divisive public face of the operation, and sending in his border czar Tom Homan. Homan, Trump wrote on social media, “will report directly to me.” He also said he had “very good” phone calls with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) and Gov. Tim Walz (D), adding that he and Walz ”actually seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
Trump’s sudden “about-face” toward a “more conciliatory approach” in Minneapolis follows the widespread “outcry” over Saturday’s shooting death of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, The Associated Press said. “Whether it was morality or bad optics and poll numbers,” Trump had “a definite change of tone,” Walz told Minnesota Public Radio Monday. Frey said some of the 1,000 Border Patrol agents in the Twin Cities will leave with Bovino.
Who said what
Trump “decided to change course” in Minneapolis after getting “frustrated” watching “cable news commentators” pick apart comments on Pretti’s shooting by Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, The Wall Street Journal said. In doing so, he “appeared to take sides — for now — in a simmering debate” pitting the “hard-edge” sweeping shows of force favored by Bovino, Noem and her top aide Corey Lewandowski against Homan’s “methodical but slower approach” focused on “immigrants with criminal histories.”
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Bovino has been sent back to his former job in El Centro, California, without the “commander at large” title given him by Noem, The Atlantic and Reuters reported, citing people with knowledge of the change. He is “expected to retire soon,” The Atlantic said, and Noem and Lewandowski, his “biggest backers at DHS, are also at risk of losing their jobs.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, a Noem ally, said on social media Monday night that Bovino “has NOT been relieved of his duties.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Noem has Trump’s “utmost confidence and trust.” But White House allies “are increasingly blaming” Noem for the “chaotic fallout” of Trump’s “crackdown in Minneapolis,” Politico said. Trump met with Noem and Lewandoski for “nearly two hours” in the Oval Office last night, The New York Times said. He “did not suggest during the meeting” that either of their jobs was at risk.
What next?
The “full ramifications of Trump’s decision to change course in Minnesota weren’t fully clear,” the Journal said. “But those in the administration advocating for a more measured approach to immigration enforcement were buoyed by the president’s elevation of Homan.”
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
