The move comes as Trump dispatched border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota.
U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino stands with Federal agents outside a convenience store on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. A senior Border Patrol commander and some agents are expected to leave Minneapolis as early as Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The expected departure of Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who has been at the center of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement surge in cities nationwide, comes as President Donald Trump dispatchedThe person familiar with the matter was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Bovino’s departure marks a significant public shift in federal law enforcement posture amid mounting outrage over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents. His leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats. Criticism has increased around Bovino in the last few days after his public defense of the Pretti shooting and disputed claims about the confrontation that led to his death.spoke in a phone call and later offered comments that were a marked change from the critical statements they have exchanged in the past. Their conversation happened on the same day a federal judge heard arguments“We, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote in a social media post. Walz, in a statement, said the call was “productive” and that impartial investigations into the shootings were needed. Trump said his administration was looking for “any and all” criminals the state has in their custody. Walz said the state Department of Corrections honors federal requests for people in its custody. It was unclear whether the new tone would lead to changes. Attorneys for the administration, the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, who is considering whether to grant requests to temporarily haltLawyers for the state and the Twin Cities argued the situation on the street is so dire it requires the court to halt the federal government’s enforcement actions. “If this is not stopped right here, right now, I don’t think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said.The judge questioned the government’s motivation behind the crackdown and expressed skepticism about a letter recently sent by Attorney General Pam Bondi to. The letter asked the state to give the federal government access to voter rolls, to turn over state Medicaid and food assistance records, and to repeal sanctuary policies. “I mean, is there no limit to what the executive can do under the guise of enforcing immigration law?” Menendez asked. She noted that the federal requests are the subject of litigation. Brantley Mayers, a Justice Department attorney, said the government’s goal is to enforce federal law. Mayers said one lawful action should not be used to discredit another lawful action. “I don’t see how the fact that we’re also doing additional things that we are allowed to do, that the Constitution has vested us with doing, would in any way negate another piece of the same operation, the same surge,” Mayers said. Menendez questioned where the line was between violating the Constitution and the executive’s power to enforce the law. She also asked whether she was being asked to decide between state and federal policies.entering residences without a warrant “I can’t be the global keeper of all things here. Like, presumably that will be litigated,” she said to the state’s attorney. Menendez made it clear that she was struggling with how to rule because the case is so unusual, and there are few precedents.Alex PrettiTrump posted Monday on social media that Homan would report directly to him. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Homan would be “the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis” during continued operations by federal immigration officers. In court Monday, an attorney for the administration said about 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were on ground, along with at least 1,000 Border Patrol officers. The lawsuit asks the judge to order a reduction in the number of federal law enforcement officers and agents in Minnesota back to the level before the surge and to limit the scope of the enforcement operation.The case has implications for other states that have been or could become targets of ramped-up federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, “If left unchecked, the federal government will no doubt be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and to repeat it elsewhere,” the attorneys general wrote.on Jan. 16 that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including people who follow and observe agents.that ruling three days before Saturday’s shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for anlate Saturday blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty asked for the order to try to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect.On Sunday night, protesters targeted a Minneapolis hotel where federal agents were believed to be staying, blocking a major avenue on the edge of the University of Minnesota campus. A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press saw smashed glass in the hotel lobby, as well as graffiti with obscenities and threats directed at ICE. A Minneapolis police officer was inside the hotel and tried to provide aid to a federal agent who was injured. More officers from local and state agencies planned to move in to “deescalate the situation, and make arrests,” Minneapolis police said Monday in a statement. But as they began to reach the scene and arrested two people, federal agents arrived and “deployed chemical munitions,” the police statement said. A DHS spokesperson said a statement on the situation would be provided later Monday.
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