Gregory Bovino, the ousted Border Patrol commander and prominent face of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push, delivered a public rebuke of the White House in Portugal—criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and senior aide Susie Wil
When Gregory Bovino stepped onto the stage at the Remigration Summit in Porto, Portugal, he didn’t come to stay quiet.
The fired Border Patrol commander—once one of the most recognizable faces of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda—used his appearance to turn on the White House. taking aim at Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. senior Trump aide Susie Wiles. and members of Trump’s inner circle. Bovino argued the administration is trying to reduce the very policy he says should be pursued at maximum scale.
He framed his complaint as a warning from someone who used to be inside the enforcement machine. In a video posted from the summit. Bovino questioned whether Trump was getting the kind of advice that leads to action rather than dilution. “So why is @SusieWiles47 pushing to dial it back and water down mass deportations?” Bovino wrote in a May 30, 2026 post. He added: “You don’t win by running away from your strongest issue. Mass deportations…”.
Bovino’s barrage is also personal in tone. He was stripped of his role and later retired from the agency after months of frustration, and his latest attack marked a rare public rebuke from a former official closely tied to Trump’s immigration enforcement push.
At the Porto summit, Bovino went further, appearing to challenge the people around Trump directly. He said Trump needs “better advice,” and he criticized Wiles for trying to “water down mass deportations.”
That stance reflects a broader rupture that has been building since early 2026. when Bovino drew national attention during enforcement operations in Minneapolis. including the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents and the backlash that followed. In late January. he was removed from the Minneapolis operation as the Trump administration reshuffled leadership and scaled back its presence there.
The Porto appearance also signaled a widening connection between U.S. immigration hardliners and European far-right activists.
Ahead of the event. Bovino told a far-right news outlet that the biggest obstacle to mass deportations. in his view. is weak political leadership in Washington. He said. “I would have briefed Trump directly on several occasions. rather than relying on this inner circle who might have other interests. ” directing his criticism toward advisers he believes are shielding the president from harder-line voices.
His sharpest wording landed on Mullin.
Bovino described Mullin as a competent technician while insisting the immigration challenge is not something that can be treated like a simple fix. “Mullin’s a great guy, great plumber, no doubt about that; he could probably fix a leaky faucet. But a hundred million illegal aliens is not a leaky faucet. ” he said. referencing Mullin’s background in his family’s plumbing business.
Bovino tied that critique back to what he calls the administration’s wavering. “Why is [Wiles] pushing to dial it back and water down mass deportations?” he asked. He added: “You don’t win by running away from your strongest issue. Mass deportations are the solution to perpetual victory.”
The unrest in New Jersey gave his argument a harsher edge.
Bovino pointed to protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark. New Jersey. as evidence of what he described as the Trump administration’s weak response to immigration-related unrest. The demonstrations stretched for nine days, centered on conditions inside the privately operated 1,000-bed facility.
According to detainee complaints that had been building for months, tensions flared over Memorial Day weekend when hundreds launched a hunger strike over spoiled food and other harsh living conditions.
State of play inside the facility became a flashpoint for lawmakers. Rep. Jerry Nadler said detainees were receiving inadequate food portions that “very often” contained maggots and that Tylenol was the only medication regularly available. Sen. Andy Kim said he was pepper-sprayed while accompanying New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and other officials attempting to visit detainees—an effort the group was denied.
As protests escalated, New Jersey authorities imposed a nightly curfew near Delaney Hall, citing escalating confrontations and public safety concerns.
Bovino used that turmoil to intensify his critique. In one social media post, he shared a selfie from an airport gate and suggested he could personally intervene, tagging Wiles and writing, “Those agents’ lives are at stake due to this inaction.”
Taken together, Bovino’s message in Porto is straightforward: he believes the administration is pulling back when it should be pressing harder, and he points to detention unrest as the kind of consequence he says no one is managing decisively.
Gregory Bovino Trump mass deportations Susie Wiles Markwayne Mullin Remigration Summit Porto Portugal Delaney Hall Newark New Jersey Alex Pretti Minneapolis immigration enforcement hunger strike Jerry Nadler Andy Kim Mikie Sherrill Tylenol maggots pepper-sprayed