Bovino defends immigration surge tactics, deflects questions of abuse, blames local political leaders, ‘anarchists’
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One of the country’s highest profile immigration enforcement officials on Tuesday blamed “anarchists” in collusion with Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for the violence that’s gripped the Twin Cities during the federal immigration surge the past six weeks.
At the same time, Gregory Bovino deflected questions around the growing concerns of local police that some federal agents are unlawfully stopping people without cause, sweeping up legal residents and violating their civil rights.
“What we do is legal, ethical and moral, well grounded in law,” Bovino told reporters. Agents, he added, have been professional and courteous despite attacks against them and are focused only on “individuals who pose a serious threat to this community.”
His comments stood in stark contrast to the daily reports of citizens and other people legally in the country being detained and intimidated, tactics that some in local enforcement have criticized as irresponsible.
Bovino, whose titles include commander at large for U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement, said federal agents had arrested more than 10,000 “criminal illegal aliens” in Minnesota over the past year, including 3,000 in the past six weeks. He described his agents as “troops.”
— MPR News staff
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