Ex-border chief rips Trump aides for 'pushing to dial back' deportations

Greg Bovino, a former top U.S. Border Patrol official who became the face of the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement, criticized members of Trump’s inner circle for "pushing to dial back" on mass deportations.

Bovino was ousted from his post as U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large in January after the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis and reassigned to his former role overseeing border patrol operations in El Centro, California. He retired from the post in March.

On May 31, Bovino shared a video of himself speaking at the far-right Remigration Summit in Porto, Portugal, saying Trump needed "better advice" and taking aim at White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for attempting to "water down mass deportations."

He also mocked Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for not being up to the job. Mullin was confirmed by the Senate in March to take over the position after Bovino’s former boss, Kristi Noem, was dismissed from her job as DHS secretary following controversy surrounding her spending and a federal contract.

"Trump’s team says immigration is his top issue according to the polls. Voters trust him on the border more than anyone. So why is @SusieWiles47 pushing to dial it back and water down mass deportations?," Bovino wrote on X May 30 accompanying the video. "You don’t win by running away from your strongest issue. Mass deportations are the solution to perpetual victory!"

Immigration detention numbers fell by about 15% from an all-time high in January of 70,766 to 60,311 by early April, according to newly released data.

The drop follows high-profile, deadly enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area which resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In Sunday’s video, Bovino implied Mullin was not cut out for the job, mocking his family’s plumbing business.

"Mullin’s a great guy, great plumber, no doubt about that; he could probably fix a leaky faucet," Bovino said. "But a hundred million illegal aliens is not a leaky faucet."

Bovino also tagged Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign manager, along with Wiles in a post on May 31 referring to clashes between agents and demonstrators outside Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey.

"Day 9 of the riots and people like @SusieWiles47 and @ChrisLaCivita are steering the president toward caving to anarchists instead of the strong immigration enforcement voters demanded," he wrote.

A little over half of U.S. adults (52%) said the Trump administration is doing too much to deport immigrants who are living in the country illegally, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 3,592 U.S. adults conducted April 6-12, 2026. 

However, compared to October, more Americans are now saying the administration is doing "too little" to deport immigrants who are living in the country illegally. The sentiment was shared by 10% of Americans in October compared to 15% in April.

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal.