Bovino to leave Minneapolis as Trump reshuffles the leadership of his
immigration crackdown
[January 27, 2026]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI and MIKE BALSAMO
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino is expected to
leave Minneapolis on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the
matter, as the Trump administration reshuffles leadership of its
immigration enforcement operation and scales back the federal presence
after a second fatal shooting by federal officers.
President Donald Trump said he was placing his border czar, Tom Homan,
in charge of the mission, with Homan reporting directly to the White
House, after Bovino drew condemnation for claiming the man who was
killed, Alex Pretti, had been planning to “massacre” law enforcement
officers, a characterization that authorities had not substantiated.
Saturday's fatal shooting of Pretti, an ICU nurse, by Border Patrol
agents ignited political backlash and raised fresh questions about how
the operation was being run.
Bovino’s 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.
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Bovino
is among the federal agents leaving Minneapolis. The person was not
authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP
on condition of anonymity.
The departure accompanies a softer tone from Trump on the Minnesota
crackdown, including the president's touting of productive conversations
with the governor and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
The mayor said he asked Trump in a phone call to end the immigration
enforcement surge, and Trump agreed the present situation cannot
continue. Frey said he would keep pushing for others involved in
Operation Metro Surge to go.
Homan will take charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations
in Minnesota. Frey said he planned to meet Homan on Tuesday.
Trump has call with Minnesota governor
Trump and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz 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 in a lawsuit aimed at halting the
federal immigration enforcement surge in the state.
“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.
Meanwhile, 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 halt the immigration operation.
She said the case was a priority, but in an order later Monday, she told
the federal government’s attorneys to file an additional brief by 6 p.m.
Wednesday. She told them to address, among other things, the assertion
by the state and cities that the purpose of Operation Metro Surge is to
punish them for their sanctuary laws and policies.
Lawyers 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.
Judge questions government's motives
The judge questioned the government’s motivation behind the crackdown
and expressed skepticism about a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi
recently sent to Walz. 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.
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A federal agent points a weapon at a person outside a hotel during a
noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration
enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in
Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
“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.
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.
“That begins to feel very much like I am deciding which policy
approach is best,” she said.
At one point, while discussing the prospect of federal officers
entering residences without a warrant, the judge expressed
reluctance to decide issues not yet raised in a lawsuit before her.
The state of Minnesota and the cities sued the Department of
Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was
shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. Pretti's shooting added
urgency to the case.
Late Monday, a federal appeals court declined to lift a temporary
hold on a ruling Menendez issued in a separate case on Jan. 16. She
ruled then that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain or tear
gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities,
including people who follow and observe agents. A three-judge panel
of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said that ruling was unlikely to
hold up on appeal.
Homan to report to Trump
News of Bovino's departure didn't stop dozens of protestors from
gathering outside a hotel where they believed Bovino was staying.
They blew whistles, banged pots and one person blasted a trombone.
Police watched and kept them away from the hotel entrance.
Trump 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, filed a friend-of-the-court brief
supporting Minnesota.
In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, took
under advisement a request from the Justice Department to lift an
order he issued late Saturday blocking the Trump administration from
“destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting.
Attorneys for the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension told the
judge they can’t trust the federal government to preserve the
evidence, citing the lack of cooperation the state is getting from
federal authorities after they said they were blocked from the
scene.
But the federal government’s attorneys argued that the temporary
restraining order should be dissolved because its investigators are
already following proper preservation procedures, and they’d object
to “micromanaging” from the court what evidence the state can
examine while the federal investigation is ongoing.
___
Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jack
Brook in Minneapolis, Giovanna Dell’Orto in St. Paul, Minnesota, and
Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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