Retiring Border Patrol Chief Bovino says he wishes he ‘caught even more’ illegals

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Retiring Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino revealed one of his few regrets from his time in Homeland Security is that he did not arrest more illegal aliens, according to a recent interview. 

Bovino, who is retiring amid national controversy over his leadership in several high-profile immigration enforcement operations over the past year, told The New York Times he does not regret his aggressive, frontline leadership. He added, "I wish I’d caught even more illegal aliens."

Turning 57 this week, Bovino has served in the U.S. Border Patrol since the nineties. He is expected to retire at the end of the month.

His decision to depart the agency after three decades comes shortly after he was removed from his prominent role as Border Patrol "commander at large." As commander, Bovino became the face of President Donald Trump’s deportation operations in cities including Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles. He was regularly criticized by the mainstream media and Democratic politicians, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom accusing him of emulating Nazi secret police.

Despite this, Bovino told the outlet, "We went as hard as we could, but there’s always a creative and innovative solution to catching even more."

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People yell at U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and other agents while they stop at a gas station.  (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

According to the outlet, Bovino touted the effectiveness of his enforcement tactics, including seeking out illegal aliens on the streets, questioning them openly and arresting those who attempt to interfere with operations.

Much like his leadership style in the interior, Bovino said that as Border Patrol chief of the El Centro Sector in California and Arizona, his goal was to "dominate" the border, not just control it. "We wanted total border domination," Bovino told The New York Times.

"When you use terms like that, perhaps it scares some of the weaker-minded people. Domination. I want you to dominate that border. I’m not going to ‘control’ it. We’re going to dominate the hell out of that damn place," Bovino said.

He criticized several of his former superiors as "status quo" bureaucrats holding him and his team back. According to the outlet, he also criticized "border czar" Tom Homan, who replaced him as leader of the Minnesota operation. He ribbed Homan over an alleged bribe, saying, "You’re not going to see me talking to anyone for a bag of money."

The Department of Justice investigated the alleged bribe and found no credible evidence of wrongdoing. Homan has previously told Fox News host Laura Ingraham, "I did nothing criminal. I did nothing illegal."

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Split image shows Greg Bovino, chief of the Border Patrol sector in El Centro, California, left, and border czar Tom Homan, right. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images; Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Despite these critiques, Bovino hailed Trump as the most effective president he served under. He said Border Patrol "got a lot of kudos from the Trumpster." He also lauded now former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as the "best secretary I’ve ever worked for, bar none."

In response to Bovino's comments, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital that "Tom Homan and Rodney Scott are American patriots and career law enforcement officials" and that "they have done an excellent job implementing President Trump’s agenda which has resulted in the most secure border in American history."

She added that the American people "are safer because of the Trump Administration’s America First policies." 

She also reiterated her previous statement following the investigation into Homan, in which she said: "This was a blatantly political investigation which found no evidence of illegal activity."

"It was yet another example of the Biden DOJ using its resources to target President Trump’s allies rather than investigate real criminals and the millions of illegal aliens who flooded our country," said Jackson.

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President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images / Annabelle Gordon)

For his part, even amid the height of the controversy over the killings of Minnesota activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Trump said the administration’s removal of Bovino was not a pullback.

"Bovino is very good," Trump told Fox News host Will Cain. "But he’s a pretty out there kind of a guy, and in some cases, that’s good; maybe it wasn’t good here."

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Rather than place the blame for the fatal confrontations on Bovino or federal officers, Trump blamed "paid insurrectionists" and "agitators" for the unsafe operational environment as agents attempted to clear the streets of criminal illegal aliens.