Gregory Bovino, the former commander-at-large of the U.S. Border Patrol, is set to retire from federal service at the end of March, CBS News first reported, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told HuffPost, “Chief Bovino has not submitted any retirement paperwork.” However, Bovino confirmed his retirement plans in an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas.

“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced,” Bovino told the outlet. “Watching these agents out there giving it their all in some of the most dangerous of environments we have ever faced was humbling.”

Bovino joined the Border Patrol in 1996 and most recently became the face of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration and mass deportation agenda. He was removed from his position in January after federal agents killed American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, where the administration’s immigration and deportation efforts clashed with anti-ICE demonstrations.

Bovino then resumed his previous role as Border Patrol sector chief in El Centro, Calif. At the time, citing two sources, The Atlantic reported that Bovino was expected to retire soon.

“I don’t think it’s a pullback. It’s a little bit of a change. Everybody in this room that has a business, you know, you make little changes,” Trump said on Will Cain’s Fox News show on Jan. 27. “You know, Bovino’s very good, but he’s, uh, a pretty out there kind of a guy, and in some cases that’s good. Maybe it wasn’t good here.”

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Bovino had “NOT been relieved of his duties” entirely and remained “a key part of the president’s team and a great American.”

Earlier this month, Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted from the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol.

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