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The internet had scathing reactions Friday to Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino's comments about a 5-year-old in Minnesota who was taken into ICE custody after agents targeted his father.

Bovino was speaking at a press conference in Minneapolis and confirmed that Liam Conejo Ramos was in his family's driveway when he returned home from school with his father and that both of them were taken away in a vehicle and sent to an ICE facility in Texas. Bovino attempted to argue that ICE has treated children well following public scrutiny over the agency's actions.

"The child is in the least restrictive setting with a family member. I don't think it gets any better than that," Bovino said.

Social media users had sharp responses to Bovino's comments:

"Does he think that being the size of a child makes him an expert on children?" Navy veteran Molly Rogers wrote on Bluesky.

"They are experts at dealing with the unarmed, that's true enough," Joan, an ADHD coach and Canadian, wrote on Bluesky.

"Dealing with children…is a chilling statement," writer and filmmaker Nicole Quinn wrote on Bluesky.

"All I can see is his soulless, dead eyes. The child should be at home with his mother and not in a restrictive setting, for Christ's sake," user Chidi wrote on X.

"If that's the situation, Commander Bovino, please allow the press and congressional members to visit and inspect this Texas camp along with other ICE facilities run by the Trump administration..." user DeSota Wilson wrote on X.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to keep her job after meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump to discuss her handling of the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that has led to the shooting deaths of two Americans.

The president is reportedly unhappy with Noem's response to the fatal shooting Saturday of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents, and sources told CBS News that the DHS secretary was hit with questions about her leadership.

CBS reported that sources said Noem is not likely to be fired, but "her focus is expected to shift from immigration enforcement operations in the interior of the country to securing the southern border and other priorities."

"Noem and top aide Corey Lewandowski had elevated Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino and tasked him with overseeing highly publicized and controversial immigration raids in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans and, most recently, Minneapolis," CBS News reported.

"The move — intended to bolster President Trump's mass deportation campaign — marked a significant change in tactics because immigration matters in the country's interior have historically been handled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not Border Patrol."

Bovino was given a new title of "commander" and reported directly to Noem, which set off internal conflict over the aggressive campaign in the Minneapolis area. After the shootings of two 37-year-olds – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – this month, the administration removed him from the post and sent him back to California. He's expected to retire.

"One official said serious threats against Bovino in Minnesota, including death threats, factored into the administration's decision to pull him from the operation there," CBS News reported.

Trump dispatched his border czar Tom Homan, who reportedly has a chilly relationship with Noem, to lead the Minnesota operation, and government sources told CBS News they were not happy about remarks the DHS secretary and other top officials have made about Pretti's killing.

"When we gaslight and contradict what the public can plainly see with their own eyes, we lose all credibility and it's going to damage our reputation for generations," said one DHS official.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is backing off plans to terminate disaster relief workers as a major winter storm bears down on much of the country.

Bloomberg News reviewed an internal email sent this week to some FEMA officials instructing them to “cease offboarding” some of FEMA’s Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employees (CORE) and promised updated guidance would follow, but the message did not explain the reasoning for the revised order.

"The pause comes as a winter storm is expected to bring heavy snow, ice and extreme cold across a wide swath of the U.S.," the outlet reported. "FEMA lost more than 3,700 employees — or about 14 percent of the agency — between January and November last year, according to newly released federal workforce data."

The Trump administration has cut into the federal workforce by culling temporary and probationary workers and encouraging veteran employees to leave with incentive packages.

The House passed a Homeland Security appropriations bill last week that urged FEMA to maintain sufficient staffing, including reservists and CORE workers, and Senate Democrats sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asking her to pause the terminations while the full Senate considers the measure.

FEMA said in a statement that officials were following standard protocol and activating its national response center and dismissed reports of staffing cuts as “manufactured drama.”