Trump admin shutters 3 social media accounts Greg Bovino renamed and declined to hand over: Report
WASHINGTON, DC: Greg Bovino, who used to serve as commander at large at Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has reportedly had his government social media accounts shut down on Thursday, March 26. A report says he did not agree to give control of those accounts to federal officials.
The accounts were not personal. They were linked to the Border Patrol’s El Centro office in California. Bovino had used them to share updates and promote agency work.
So far, there has been no official comment from Bovino. No one from the White House or the Trump administration has confirmed the report, so many details are still unclear.
Greg Bovino refused to hand over accounts arguing 'followers were his'
Bovino, who became a leading face of Presdient Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, had amassed a large audience of about 850,000 followers across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram.
He often shared short videos showing ICE and Border Patrol activities, especially during his time as commander in Los Angeles. These posts received strong reactions. Many immigrant rights groups and others affected by enforcement actions pushed back against his content.
Following the large-scale protests tied to immigration raids and the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good at the hands of federal agents, Bovino was removed from his "commander-at-large" role in January, and he announced his retirement on March 16.
As per the Washington Examiner, a spokesperson from Customs said, “Chief Patrol Agent Bovino has retired from federal service and no longer has access to official government social media accounts.” At the center of the issue was control of the accounts. Officials asked Bovino to hand them over so they could be moved under the El Centro Sector and replaced with new accounts.
Bovino refused to give them up. He believed the followers belonged to him because he had built the audience himself. He wanted to keep control of his followers and continue posting under his own name.
“Bovino refused, arguing that the followers were his. He said he earned the followers and that his followers expected him to post from new cities,” the source said. “It was all about Greg Bovino getting attention and nothing else.”
Corey Lewandowski reportedly had to step in
As per the Washington Examiner, on August 4, 2025, Bovino announced a change to the account name so it would match his role and the work he was doing at the time.
"The @USBPChiefELC Facebook page will be changing names to 'Gregory K. Bovino, Commander-Operation At Large CA' -@CommanderOpAtLargeCA," he wrote at the time. "Moving forward, all content posted here will be related to Operation at Large in Los Angeles, CA."
Such a move is unusual, as other Border Patrol leaders do not normally rename official accounts to reflect a personal identity in this way. The situation grew more tense when Bovino was told to give up control of the accounts. According to a source, he refused, saying, “Those are my followers, so I’m taking them with me.”
There were also claims that Corey Lewandowski, who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign and later served under former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, stepped in during the dispute. Sources say this involvement made it harder for officials to take action.
One source described the impact this way: “Corey prevented the Commissioner from taking any action against Bovino, so that just empowered Bovino and his ego even more,” a third source told the outlet.
The main account was no longer available to share updates with the public. New accounts were created on Facebook, X, and Instagram, but they had to start from zero with no followers.
