Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino plans to retire

Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who became the face of the Trump administration's controversial immigration enforcement, plans to retire at the end of March, multiple news organizations reported on March 16.

In an interview with Breitbart Texas, Bovino, now a chief patrol agent along California's El Centro sector of the U.S.-Mexico border, announced he would be leaving the agency in the coming weeks, but has not yet submitted the required paperwork. CBS News, NBC News, and CNN, citing anonymous sources, also reported that Bovino is retiring after nearly three decades with Border Patrol.

"The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced," Bovino told Breitbart Texas.

He added that watching agents "giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling."

USA TODAY reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to USA TODAY that Bovino "has not submitted any retirement paperwork."

His retirement plans coincide with the ousting of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, whose last day at the agency is March 31. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump fired Noem and appointed her special envoy for The Shield of the Americas, his initiative for security against narcotics trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.

Bovino emerged as a leading public face of the Trump administration's immigration operations over the past year, spearheading the militarized approach to immigration enforcement that has come to characterize the administration's efforts. His aggressive tactics and handling of operations in Minnesota, Chicago, and Los Angeles have drawn criticism from lawmakers and civil rights advocates.

Immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, Minneapolis

Bovino first drew a national spotlight when he led Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. His high-profile moments in the nation's third-largest city included staging a raid on an apartment building using a Black Hawk helicopter; using chemical irritants on protesters in apparent violation of a judge’s order; and being ordered to appear in federal court, where a U.S. District Court judge scolded him for the tear-gassing incident.

He drew further scrutiny after the shootings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during immigration operations in Minnesota. Bovino has repeatedly defended the tactics of immigration agents in Minneapolis, arguing that they were ⁠facing an angry public on the streets that he said interfered with their attempts at immigration enforcement.

Along with Noem, Bovino cast Pretti's killing as an act of self-defense by federal agents, and stated Pretti intended to harm officers without providing evidence to support the allegations.

In late January, the White House announced that border czar Tom Homan was being sent to the state as the Trump administration’s new point person for immigration enforcement operations. Bovino was returned to his former role as a Border Patrol sector chief in El Centro, California.

Homan held talks with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and set a less confrontational tone. In February, Homan announced that he was sending home hundreds of agents but noted that immigration enforcement would continue in the state.

Contributing: Kathryn Palmer, Fernando Cervantes Jr., James Powel, Trevor Hughes, Michael Loria, and Terry Collins, USA TODAY; Reuters