Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino is expected to leave Minneapolis on Tuesday, a White House official and another Trump administration official familiar with the decision told NBC News.
The administration official and a law enforcement official said U.S. Customs and Border Protection also plans to reduce the number of agents in Minneapolis this week. The size of the reduction is still under discussion, they said.
Bovino had emerged as the public face of the Department of Homeland Security's Minneapolis operation, dubbed "Operation Metro Surge." CNN first reported the news of his departure.
Bovino will be returning to the border in El Centro, California, a senior White House official and an administration official told NBC News. The officials said he is losing his "commander" title and will return to his previous job as Border Patrol sector chief in El Centro. He will not continue overseeing Border Patrol agents making immigration arrests in interior U.S. cities, they said.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X that Bovino "has NOT been relieved of his duties," calling Bovino "a key part of the President's team and a great American."
The decision comes after weeks of tense encounters between immigration agents and demonstrators and the shooting deaths by Homeland Security officers of two Americans, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti.
President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke by phone Monday, a call both men praised. Walz said in a statement that Trump would look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minneapolis.
Trump also said Monday that his border "czar," Tom Homan, would travel to Minnesota this week and would take over as the main point of contact on the ground, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Leavitt downplayed any friction among top administration officials when she was asked whether the leadership change signaled Trump was dissatisfied with how the shooting of Pretti had been handled.
“Mr. Homan is doing an exceptional job, and he has been working with Secretary [Kristi] Noem and President Trump over the course of the last year,” she said. “Secretary Noem still has the utmost confidence and trust of the president of the United States.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott will join Homan in Minneapolis, according to a law enforcement official and a person familiar with the decision. Previously, Scott had been taking a backseat in Trump’s plans for mass deportations as the Border Patrol agents were being helmed by Bovino.
