Months before two fatal shootings in Minneapolis by Border Patrol agents, Greg Bovino, who until last week was overseeing the agency’s immigration enforcement operations, pushed back on internal efforts to temper his aggressive approach, according to an email that was obtained by NBC News. Bovi no wanted to do large-scale immigration sweeps during a September operation in Chicago, but the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, told him the focus was to conduct “targeted operations,” arrests only of people known to federal agents ahead of time for their violations of immigration law or other laws, according to the correspondence. “Mr. Lyons seemed intent that CBP conduct targeted operations for at least two weeks before transitioning to full scale immigration enforcement,” Bovino wrote in an email to DHS leaders in Washington, D.C., referring to Customs and Border Protection, which oversees Border Patrol agents. “I declined his suggestion. We ended the conversation shortly thereafter.” Yet after 10 days of more targeted enforcement in Chicago, Bovino was given permission by DHS leadership to use his more aggressive approach, and Border Patrol agents he oversaw began to stop people they believed were in the U.S. illegally, according to a person familiar with the conversation between Bovino and Lyons. “Operation Midway Blitz” grew to include roughly 1,600 arrests. The operation sparked clashes with demonstrators and protests throughout the Chicago area. Two people were shot by immigration officers. The email where Bovino complains to DHS leaders underscores tensions within President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security team as his aides have tried to carry out his mass deportations agenda. Bovino’s aggressive tactics have come under sharp criticism, leading to a lawsuit over immigration arrests in Chicago and his removal last week from his post after two Border Patrol agents under his command fatally shot 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. The exchange also aligned Bovino with the top aide to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski. After Minneapolis, Noem and Lewandowski are now taking a backseat to border czar Tom Homan and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott — who have publicly advocated for a targeted approach. “Mr. Lyons said he was in charge, and I corrected him saying I report to Corey Lewandowski,” Bovino said in the email. Lewandowski has served as an unpaid special government employee since February of last year. The email appears to contradict public comments from Noem earlier this month, when she said all immigration enforcement operations are targeted against a specific person known to authorities and believed to have broken the law. “In every situation, we’re doing targeted enforcement,” Noem said in Jan. 15 remarks at the White House. “If we are on a target and during an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity.” Bovino oversaw operations that included large sweeps of groups of people based on their location, such as day laborers at a Home Depot parking lot, and involved stopping individuals suspected of being in the U.S. illegally but whose identities were not known to law enforcement. Spokespeople for ICE, DHS and CBP did not respond to requests for comment. Trump removed Bovino from Minneapolis this week and pulled his title as commander of Border Patrol. He was sent back to his position as Border Patrol sector chief of El Centro, California. The shift came amid growing criticism of Bovino’s tactics, and his public comments after the fatal shooting of Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis and the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good. In Bovino’s place, Trump sent Homan to Minneapolis. ...read more read less