Former Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino on Wednesday voiced support for his colleagues in a video filmed in front of Mount Rushmore.
"Team, behind me are a few individuals ... the ORIGINAL turn and burn — the folks that helped make America," he said in the video, posted to several reporters' X accounts.
"But you know what? I'm very proud of what you, the MEAN GREEN MACHINE, are doing in Minneapolis right now, just like you've done it across the United States over these past tough nine months.
"And I want you to know that you're the modern-day equivalent — turn and burn. Makes me very proud. Also want you to know that I've got your back, now and always — I love you, I support you, and I salute you," he added.
Bovino, the former commander of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, has repeatedly used the phrase "turn and burn" on social media and in interviews to describe what he calls a fast, aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.
He left the city Tuesday after federal agents fatally shot two people in less than three weeks.
Bovino was a key architect of the large-scale immigration crackdowns ordered by Trump and the public face of the administration's city-by-city sweeps.
The Border Patrol chief led agents in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Orleans before he headed to Minnesota in December for what the Department of Homeland Security called its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation.
Trump said he was placing his border czar, Tom Homan, in charge of the mission in Minnesota, with Homan reporting directly to the White House, after Bovino drew condemnation for claiming that Alex Pretti, the man who was killed, had been planning to "massacre" law enforcement officers — a characterization authorities had not substantiated.
Saturday's fatal shooting of Pretti, an ICU nurse, by Border Patrol agents ignited political backlash and raised fresh questions about how the operation was being run.
The departure coincides with a softer tone from Trump on the Minnesota crackdown, including the president’s public references to productive conversations with Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
The mayor said he asked Trump in a phone call to end the immigration enforcement surge, and Trump agreed that the situation could not continue. Frey said he would keep pushing for others involved in Operation Metro Surge to go.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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