Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino Under Fire After Remarks About Prosecutor Daniel Rosen’s Shabbat Observance

A senior U.S. Border Patrol commander is facing scrutiny after allegedly making disparaging remarks about a Jewish federal prosecutor’s Shabbat observance during an internal coordination call, according to The New York Times. The comments, attributed by multiple sources familiar with the call to Gregory Bovino, drew particular concern because they targeted a core element of Jewish religious life and surfaced as questions about his leadership were already mounting.

The phone call took place on January 12. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen did not participate because he observes Shabbat and does not use electronic devices from Friday night through Saturday night, and he delegated the call to a deputy. According to the reports, Bovino complained about Rosen’s unavailability and used the phrase “chosen people” in a disparaging manner. One source recounted Bovino asking sarcastically, “Do Orthodox criminals also take off on Saturday?”

For Jewish officials and prosecutors on the call, the remarks were not viewed as a personal slight but as a warning sign. They raised concerns about whether a senior federal law enforcement commander regarded Jewish religious observance as a legitimate part of public life or as an inconvenience to be mocked.

Bovino did not respond to requests for comment. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, declined to address the substance of the allegations and dismissed the focus on the remarks. “Instead of focusing on gossip, why don’t you focus on something actually important like the victims of illegal alien crime or the criminals taken out of Minneapolis communities?” she said. Representatives for the Justice Department and the White House declined to comment. Rosen also declined to comment.

The allegations have resonated strongly within Jewish circles because they involve a federal official publicly questioning Shabbat observance, a defining pillar of Jewish religious identity. Rosen, who became U.S. attorney for Minnesota last October, has previously spoken openly about rising antisemitism in the United States. In an interview last year, he warned that Jewish history shows “Jews fare poorly in societies that turn polarized.”

CBS News and The Atlantic reported that Bovino was relieved of his Minneapolis command and reassigned to California, while Fox 9 cited administration officials who denied that he had been formally removed.

As federal authorities continue to manage the fallout from the Minnesota operations, the remarks attributed to Bovino have taken on wider meaning for Jewish observers. The episode has raised broader questions about how Jewish religious practice is treated within federal institutions, and how seriously antisemitic language is addressed when it comes from positions of power.