Gregory Bovino, the self-styled former “commanding general” of the United States Border Patrol, was interviewed by The New York Times before his retired from federal service and seems quite bitter about his fall.

In January, Bovino was removed from his position after federal agents killed US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, and returned to his previous role as sector chief in California.

In the interview, Bovino seemed disappointed with the “softer touch” Trump has advocated since his departure. Of his regret, he told the newspaper: “I wish I had caught more illegal aliens.”

“I mean, we tried as hard as we could, but there’s always a creative and innovative solution to catch even more,” he added.

As The Times noted, Bovino was not particularly concerned that he had overstepped his tactics. Instead, he suggested that he had not gone far enough.

“We wanted total domination of the border,” Bovino said. “I want you to dominate that border. I’m not going to ‘control’ it. We’re going to dominate that damn place.”

Gregory Bovino, the self-styled former “commanding general” of the U.S. Border Patrol, during a news conference in January.
Gregory Bovino, the self-styled former “commanding general” of the U.S. Border Patrol, during a news conference in January.

Brandon Bell via Getty Images

In particular, he did not regret making the unfounded claim that Pretti had wanted to “massacre law enforcement.”

Bovino criticized Trump’s border czar Tom Homan over allegations that he received a $50,000 bribe.

“You won’t see me talking to anyone over a bag of money,” Bovino said.

Bovino also admitted to having “lively” conversations with Stephen Miller, the White House adviser who has significant influence over Trump’s immigration agenda. Without naming names, Bovino criticized his superiors as “status quo” bureaucrats who had rejected his “crash and burn” tactics of quick immigrant arrests.

The former head of the Border Patrol is retiring this week in the wake of enormous criticism for his brutal law enforcement tactics in places like Minneapolis and Los Angeles.

As a DHS official told The Times, some agents formally complained and accused Bovino of ordering them to racially profile and use munitions indiscriminately against nonviolent targets. Bovino stated that he was not aware of any formal complaint.