Recently demoted border patrol official Gregory Bovino, who served as the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in several US cities, was compared to a Confederate general in an email sent to him by a colleague in 2018, according to multiple reports.

A border patrol agent who was later promoted to a senior role in New Orleans sent the email in question as well as a number of Confederacy-related images after Bovino canceled a job listing and installed that same agent – a white officer – in the listed role by bypassing the agency’s standard career-advancement process.

The move led to discrimination lawsuits by two border patrol agents, alleging Bovino’s efforts to manipulate the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hiring process to obstruct the promotion of qualified Black and Latino applicants.

During the hiring process, an email exchange between Bovino and the man he eventually promoted, Christopher Bullock, included a picture of Confederate Gen William Mahone, of Virginia, with the words “Chief Bovino” written at the top.

Bovino reportedly replied, “Oh jeez, DELETE!!!” – but did not rebuke Bullock for sending the email.