Former Customs and Border Patrol 'commander at large' Greg Bovino has had all his official government social media accounts shut down after he refused to hand them over to the federal government, according to a Washington Examiner report.
Bovino, who became the face of President Donald Trump's anti-immigration raids in so-called 'sanctuary cities' in 2025, built a large social media following across X, Facebook and Instagram, totalling some 850,000 followers. The accounts he used to promote himself and the agencies actually belonged to the Border Patrol's El Centro, California, regional office.
On Thursday, the accounts were shuttered. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson confirmed that Bovino had retired and no longer had access to the accounts. Sources told the Examiner that Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott ordered Bovino to return the accounts, but he refused, arguing that the followers were his and that he had grown the account himself.
Bovino reportedly said, 'Those are my followers, so I'm taking them with me.' Corey Lewandowski, President Trump's former campaign manager and a special employee for former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, allegedly protected Bovino from CBP's push to reclaim the accounts, according to sources.
While Bovino was dabbling as a social media influencer, the El Centro region was left without an account to post news, forcing it to create three new accounts from scratch with zero followers. An official claimed that Bovino's decision 'damaged' the region's ability to communicate with the public and media.
Bovino left his role after the fatal shootings of two protesters by DHS agents in Minnesota and retired two months later.
