Gregory Bovino, the recently demoted US Border Patrol official who became the public face of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in several cities, was likened to a Confederate general in a 2018 email exchange with a colleague, according to multiple reports.
The email, sent by Christopher Bullock, who was later promoted to a senior role in New Orleans, included a picture of Confederate Gen William Mahone with the words “Chief Bovino” written at the top. Two other images were attached: one showing Confederate re-enactors with the caption “NLL all hands meeting”, and another depicting Black Union soldiers captioned “NLL Sector HQ”. Bovino replied, “Oh jeez, DELETE!!!!!” but did not rebuke Bullock.
Bullock later said in a deposition that he sent the email because Bovino was a “history buff” who would find it funny, while acknowledging it was inappropriate and could reasonably be viewed as racist. Bovino admitted the email was “bogus” and a waste of government resources, but denied it was racially motivated. Bullock was subsequently investigated and formally reprimanded.
The exchange emerged amid discrimination lawsuits filed by two Border Patrol agents, Jon Joyner and Randolph Williams, who alleged Bovino manipulated the hiring process to obstruct the promotion of qualified Black and Latino applicants. Their claims were settled in 2022 for undisclosed amounts.
On Tuesday, Bovino was demoted from his role as the agency’s commander at large and sent out of Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot two US citizens in January. He had also reportedly made mocking remarks about the Jewish faith of Minnesota’s US attorney, Daniel Rosen. The administration’s border chief, Tom Homan, said “certain improvements could and should be made”.
