Ex-border patrol chief defends his record after exit: ‘I wish I’d caught more illegal aliens’

The Guardian US News
by Edward Helmore
March 24, 2026
3 min read

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Former Border Patrol commander defended enforcement record, saying he wished he had apprehended more undocumented immigrants.

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Gregory Bovino, the former commander-at-large of U.S. Border Patrol, defended his enforcement record in a New York Times exit interview, saying he wished he had apprehended more undocumented immigrants and expressing that the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has not gone far enough. Bovino's comments come as he prepares to retire at the end of March in what he acknowledged was not entirely voluntary. The former official showed no remorse regarding federal agents' killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January, underscoring the aggressive posture he took toward immigration enforcement during his tenure. In the interview, Bovino also referred to President Trump casually as "the Trumpster," reflecting alignment with the administration's hardline immigration stance despite his impending departure from the agency.

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Gregory Bovino, former Border Patrol commander-at-large, defended his record in New York Times exit interview ahead of retirement.

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