Border Patrol official demoted over antisemitic remarks and comments on Minneapolis violence

A recently demoted border patrol official allegedly directed anti-Semitic taunts at a federal prosecutor in Minnesota, mocking his religious observance during a professional dispute.

According to a report by the New York Times, Gregory Bovino ridiculed Daniel Rosen, a federal prosecutor in Minnesota, for his observance of the Shabbat. During a Jan. 12 phone call, Bovino reportedly used the term "chosen people" in a sarcastic manner.

The confrontation followed Bovino's demand for a meeting to push the Minnesota prosecutor's office for more aggressive action against those he believed were obstructing federal agents. Bovino was reportedly frustrated that Rosen was difficult to reach on weekends due to his faith.

Bovino, who served as a prominent face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, was recently reassigned following two fatal shootings involving federal agents in Minneapolis.

The most recent incident involved the death of nurse Alex Pretti. While Bovino initially claimed Pretti intended to "massacre" federal agents, witness video later showed Pretti was holding a cellphone rather than a weapon.

Pretti’s death occurred just 17 days after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Both shootings triggered widespread protests, leading the Trump administration to demote Bovino and transfer him out of the region.

The demotion of Gregory Bovino is less a standard disciplinary rebuke for his recent antisemitic remarks and more a calculated exercise in crisis management by the Trump administration. Amid escalating tensions in Minneapolis, the administration is scrambling to contain the fallout from two consecutive fatal shootings involving federal immigration agents—incidents that have ignited significant public outcry.

Bovino’s inflammatory and unsubstantiated characterization of Alex Pretti as a "domestic terrorist" served only to exacerbate the situation, severely undermining the perceived legitimacy of federal operations in the city. The administration’s credibility faced a critical test when witness video emerged directly contradicting official claims that Pretti was armed. In this context, sidelining Bovino—the primary face of the initial narrative—is a tactical maneuver designed to decouple the administration’s broader immigration agenda from the radioactive conduct of a single official.

By installing a more senior figure like Tom Homan and offering vague assurances of "necessary improvements," the White House is attempting to neutralize public anger without acknowledging any systemic flaws in its enforcement protocols. This is, at its core, an effort to change the messenger in order to salvage a hardline policy message. The episode illustrates that even an administration built on a "law and order" platform recognizes the political ceiling for aggressive tactics when lethal force is met with undeniable evidence and a sustained public backlash.

Aggressive enforcement tactics by federal immigration agencies like ICE and Border Patrol have created a pervasive climate of fear across immigrant communities, including segments of the Vietnamese-American population. This anxiety is especially acute for those with precarious legal status, casting a shadow over daily life in Little Saigon and throughout the nail salon industry and local phở restaurants. For many families navigating the complexities of visa categories like F2B or TPS, these crackdowns create a sense of instability that threatens the community's collective security and the vital flow of remittances back home.