SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino — the public face of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — could be heading back to California.

Bovino is expected to make his return to the agency’s El Centro Sector in the Imperial Valley following a demotion from his role as Border Patrol’s “commander at large” Monday, according to The Atlantic. He will also reportedly retire soon, though a Department of Homeland Security official disputed claims that Bovino was relieved of his duties.

The change comes two days after Border Patrol agents under Bovino’s command shot and killed a man in Minneapolis. Videos of the killing have sparked national outrage and prompted the Trump administration to signal a potential shift in its public deportation campaign.

Bovino, known for his rampant social media use, spent the last few days defending the shooting and said the man assaulted officers — a claim not supported by multiple videos leading up to the death. CNN reported Monday that the Department of Homeland Security has also suspended Bovino’s access to his social media accounts effective immediately.

Bovino’s removal marks a tumultuous end to a controversial year in which he spearheaded dozens of high-profile immigration enforcement operations across the country.

He first drew national attention with a multi-day operation in Kern County, just weeks before Trump’s inauguration. Over the summer, Bovino spent weeks in Los Angeles overseeing arrests at parking lots, car washes and other local businesses. He later made a trip to a Sacramento Home Depot with a Fox News camera crew.

Bovino, who grew up in North Carolina, seemed to relish the spotlight. He had spent most of his career working near the California-Mexico border.

“I just take pride in making ma and pa America a safer place,” Bovino told The Sacramento Bee in August. “You know, if I am the face of immigration enforcement, I’m sorry that ma and pa America doesn’t have a better looking face.”

In September, he was assigned to oversee a weekslong immigration operation in Chicago. He earned the “commander” title and traveled to several other major cities, including Charlotte, New Orleans and Minneapolis. Many of his operations often led to a Hollywood-style social media videos accompanied by music.

“Social media is transparent to the taxpayers that I work for,” Bovino told The Bee. “They need to see what I’m doing in an unabashed, unapologetic and completely truthful way.”

‘Truth being told now’

What comes next for Bovino is not yet clear, though he will be leaving Minneapolis, according to several news outlets. A request for comment from a spokesperson with the El Centro Sector was not immediately returned.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denied the claim that Bovino was relieved of his duties in an X post.

“@CMDROpAtLargeCA is a key part of the President’s team and a great American,” she wrote on Monday.

If Bovino does head back to the El Centro Sector, his return would mark a homecoming. He began his Border Patrol career in that sector in 1996. Bovino went on to work at sectors in Arizona, Texas and New Orleans before being named the chief of the El Centro Sector in 2023.

”In my opinion, the best sector,” Bovino said of El Centro. “It was the premier sector back then, the premier sector now.”

This is not the first time he has faced controversy. In June 2023, under President Joe Biden’s administration, he was relieved of his position for two months. He attributed the brief removal to his congressional testimony and social media activity on what he called “unmitigated chaos” at the border.

“The truth was told, and I guess some folks didn’t like it, just like they don’t like the truth being told now,” Bovino said to The Bee.

In that same interview, he praised the Trump administration for being the “best” executive branch at enforcing the nation’s immigration laws over the course of his career.

“The border is now the most controlled it’s ever been in our history,” he said.

‘California won’t be glad’

Bovino’s removal and potential return to California have garnered mixed reactions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the move as evidence that growing public pressure against immigration enforcement efforts was having an effect on Trump’s administration. His press team added on by mocking Bovino with a post of a crying baby dressed in Border Patrol gear.

“Gestapo Greg is out,” Newsom said on X. “Keep the pressure up. It’s working.”

But the news did not bring joy to the California-based labor union United Farm Workers, which has known of Bovino since his first major operations unfolded in Kern County. The union has said those actions provided the playbook for the immigration crackdown that followed.

“Hopefully his five minutes of national fame is over, but the pain he caused immigrant communities and farmworker families continues,” said UFW President Teresa Romero in a written statement Monday night. “We are happy for the brave Minnesotans who sent him packing, but California won’t be glad to have him back.”

The UFW, represented by the ACLU, filed a lawsuit against Border Patrol and accused the agency of racial profiling and coercion for its Kern County operation. In April, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction and ruled that Border Patrol could not conduct warrantless immigration stops in Central California.

DHS has appealed the ruling and last month Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to keep the injunction in place.

“These unlawful stops and warrantless arrests have, unfortunately, become a familiar story for communities in California this past year,” Bonta said.

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