Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and some of his masked agents will leave Minneapolis

The acting commander of U.S. Border Patrol and an unspecified number of agents are expected to leave Minnesota “imminently,” according to multiple reports, amid escalating outrage over a series of deadly encounters tied to a massive federal immigration crackdown in the state. Gregory Bovino, who has overseen Border Patrol operations during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge, is among those expected to depart, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that Trump administration border czar Tom Homan would be taking control of the Minneapolis operation.

Related: Federal agents kill another person in Minneapolis

Related: Who was Renee Nicole Good? Remembering the Minneapolis poet and mother killed by ICE

Bovino, the public face of hardline Trump deportation arrests, had come under intense scrutiny after his agents fired less lethal and chemical irritants at peaceful protesters. Bovino also leaned into an authoritarian fashion sense, wearing what appeared to be a customized uniform that many critics said resembled a Nazi-era uniform.

The pullback comes days after a Border Patrol agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, during an immigration operation in south Minneapolis, a killing that ignited protests and renewed scrutiny of federal tactics.

Related: Federal immigration agents are a modern-day ‘slave patrol,’ says former Minneapolis City Council president

Pretti’s death followed another fatal shooting earlier this month, when queer mother Renee Nicole Good was killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who shot her in her car. Her killing was ruled a homicide by the Hennepin County medical examiner. Together, the incidents have intensified calls from local leaders and advocates to halt or scale back the federal presence.

Voices in Minneapolis have experienced the federal surge as more than routine enforcement. Former Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins, a Black transgender leader, told The Advocate that the operation has reshaped life in the city, with residents carrying whistles to alert one another when agents are nearby and many avoiding public spaces out of fear. Jenkins described the deployment as akin to slave patrols of the 18th and 19th centuries, when roving mobs of men chased down and brutalized enslaved people in the United States.

Related: Minnesotans mourn Alex Pretti, man killed by Border Patrol agents

Related: ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis has been identified

It remains unclear how many agents are leaving, whether the departures include ICE officers, or how the move will affect ongoing enforcement efforts. Operation Metro Surge has deployed more than 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota, according to court filings and public statements. Federal authorities have not publicly commented on the reported departures.

This is a developing story.