Overview
- Bovino ended roughly three decades with the Border Patrol after losing his high-profile commander-at-large post that followed deadly protest shootings linked to federal immigration agents.
- He reappeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas, where he received a raucous welcome and told attendees he had found a new political home.
- He said he is writing a book to memorialize frontline agents and to answer criticism of the mass-deportation operations he led from Minnesota to Los Angeles and Chicago.
- The January killings of ICU nurse Alex Pretti and Renée Good fueled public backlash, with a PRRI poll cited in coverage showing only 35% approval of the president’s handling of immigration as Trump moved to soften the push.
- Coverage split along ideological lines, with the Los Angeles Times blasting his theatrical tactics and rhetoric while the Washington Examiner highlighted his popularity on the right and his defense of agents’ work.