Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Border Patrol official who is leading deportation operations in Minnesota, allegedly made antisemitic remarks aimed at Daniel Rosen, the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis, reportedly due to his observance of Shabbat. The New York Times, which broke the story, reported that on January 12, during a call with several attorneys in the federal prosecutor's office, Bovino—a senior U.S. Border Patrol official—made disparaging comments about Rosen’s faith.
According to the report, Bovino used the phrase "the chosen people" and asked, sarcastically, whether Rosen understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals don’t take weekends off, a reference to Rosen’s practice of refraining from phone or email use on the Sabbath.
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Gregory Bovino, Commander of the Deportation Operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota
(Photo: Roberto Schmidt / AFP)
Bovino, a veteran immigration enforcer, recently arrived in Minneapolis to oversee a task force of 3,000 federal agents. He has drawn sharp criticism for repeatedly appearing in public wearing a green military-style coat with silver buttons—officially a standard-issue Border Patrol winter uniform, but widely criticized online for its resemblance to Nazi-era military attire.
Tensions escalated further when Bovino was filmed firing a tear gas canister without warning during a protest in Chicago; he also was reprimanded by a federal judge in Illinois for allegedly lying repeatedly about arrest tactics used by his officers.
Last week, scrutiny of Bovino intensified following the death of Alex Pretti, an American ICU nurse at a veterans’ hospital in Minneapolis. Bovino claimed Pretti had engaged in an “attempted massacre of law enforcement” and was armed with a handgun and two magazines. However, video footage from the scene appeared to contradict this narrative, showing agents subduing Pretti, disarming him, then shooting him several times in the back. This marked the second deadly shooting by federal agents in Minnesota since the start of heightened enforcement operations following the killing of protester Renee Good.
Protests in Minneapolis after killing of Renee Good by ICE
(רויטרס)
The controversial comments about Rosen came during a call in which Bovino urged the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office to press charges against protesters accused of interfering with his agents. Rosen was not present on the call—his deputy attended in his place—prompting Bovino to express frustration that the prosecutor could not be reached over the weekend. He implied that Rosen’s religious observance was obstructing law enforcement.
The incident comes amid a legal backdrop that includes a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring prosecutors to disclose any evidence that could undermine the credibility of government witnesses—including law enforcement officers.