The reported return of U.S. Border Patrol leader Greg Bovino to El Centro has some residents concerned that the heavy-handed tactics deployed by agents under his command are coming home, several people told KPBS.
Video of immigration officials under Bovino's command confronting protesters have become common since his first operations in Los Angeles during the spring.
Two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month sparked renewed protests.
"I would be terrified if I saw people on the streets here dressed the way Border Patrol and ICE have dressed in Chicago and Minneapolis, Los Angeles and kicking people and throwing tear gas and spraying people in the face," said Edie Harmon.
Harmon is a longtime resident of Ocotillo and an environmentalist who's had conflicts with the Border Patrol over the years.
She met Bovino in 2020 and said she doesn't recognize him anymore.
"The person I've seen on TV in recent weeks or recent months is not the same person that I thought he was when I talked to him," she said.
Being close to the U.S.-Mexico border, El Centro has a long history with the Border Patrol.
Frances Beope was born in Calexico and has lived in the Imperial Valley all her life. The retired college counselor said the Border Patrol is part of the community.
"A lot of our families are integrated, so a lot of the Border Patrol (agents) happen to be local," she said. "They are our neighbors, they're our cousins."
Bovino became the face of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown when immigration agents began surging into cities last spring. Bovino was seen leading raids, tossing tear gas cans at protesters and justifying such tactics on camera at news conferences.
He's also often the only federal agent not wearing a mask to conceal their identity.
After agents under his command shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis Jan. 24, Bovino repeated claims that immigration agents have come under attack and said Pretti — who had a license to carry a gun and was armed — intended to harm agents.
"Across the country, the men and women of DHS have been attacked, shot at, doxed (and) had their family members threatened," Bovino said at a news conference. "This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."
Multiple videos of the incident do not support Bovino's account.
"How can you respect somebody when you know that person is not being honest with you?" said Harmon.
On Jan. 26, The Atlantic reported Bovino had been removed as the so-called "commander at large" of the Border Patrol and would be returning to El Centro, where he previously served as the chief patrol agent.
Bovino began his Border Patrol career in El Centro in 1996. Over the years he's been promoted and transferred to other locations but spent most of his career in California, including a stint in Imperial Beach.
In 2020 he became chief patrol agent in El Centro.
In 2023, after controversial posts on social media, he was briefly removed but was reinstated weeks later.
In January 2025, he sent agents more than 300 miles north for raid operations near Bakersfield.
Bovino calls El Centro the "premier sector" of the Border Patrol.
"The El Centro sector is the 'premier sector' for Border Patrol — why are we treated as a wasteland, as some place where they could send their political scraps?" said Calipatria Mayor Michael Luellen.
Luellen, 21, is California's youngest elected official. Calipatria is about a 30-minute drive north of El Centro, close to the Salton Sea.
He said Bovino owes the community answers.
"Will you continue to bombard our streets, will you continue to besiege our cities?" Luellen said. "And he's coming back to retire? These are questions that our community lose sleep over."
Eric Montoya Reyes is a community organizer in the Imperial Valley and the executive director of Los Amigos de la Comunidad.
He said he doesn't want to see Bovino return.
"I'm disappointed that he just didn't fade into the sunset, as he should," he said.
Reyes is also concerned what impact Bovino's recent notoriety and tactics will have on agents in the region.
"I'm hoping that doesn't become the norm here in Imperial County," he said. "It has not been an antagonistic relationship. There are people born and raised here and become Border Patrol ... and they're part of the fabric of the community — you can't get around it."
The Imperial Valley relies on migrant labor to sustain its more than $2 billion annual agriculture industry.
"This community will not live without the cross-border immigrant population that we have," Reyes said. "They harvest our fields ... they take care of our grounds and (our) children ... allowing a lot of people here to make a lot of money."
A handful of people staged a protest Jan. 29 across the street from the El Centro Border Patrol station and received a steady stream of honks from passing cars.
Beope said she's most concerned Bovino won't be held accountable for the hard-handed tactics she believes are unlawful.
"They're not respecting the law," Beope said of immigration agents. "They're not respecting the 4th Amendment, let alone the 1st Amendment. I find it very upsetting that he may not be held accountable because his leadership has definitely been very abusive toward immigrants and toward U.S. citizens."
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to several questions about Bovino's future or his role, if any, in the El Centro Border Patrol sector.
