Border Patrol chief Mike Banks resigns in latest Trump immigration shakeup

Mike Banks has resigned as the head of the United States Border Patrol, in the latest turnover to hit President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.

On Thursday, Banks broke the announcement to Fox News, saying “it’s just time” for him to leave. He also took credit for a decline in border crossings since Trump took office for a second term.

“I feel like I got the ship back on course from the least secure, disastrous, chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen,” Fox News quoted Banks as saying. “Time to pass the reigns [sic].”

Banks’s departure is the latest in a series of high-profile resignations for the Trump administration within the last few months.

Many have affected the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees US Border Patrol and other immigration enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In March, for instance, the cabinet secretary in charge of DHS, Kristi Noem, was fired amid questions about her spending – including $20m on an advertising campaign – as well as her handling of immigration enforcement operations.

Noem has since been reassigned to the Shield of the Americas, an initiative Trump launched to bolster security across the Americas.

In April, Todd Lyons also announced he would be leaving his post as acting head of ICE, effective this month.

Like Noem, Lyons had faced pressure from Trump to increase the number of immigrant detentions and deportations. Also like Noem, he had faced criticism for his staff’s aggressive tactics during enforcement operations.

In January, for instance, two US citizens – Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good – were shot dead by federal agents during Operation Metro Surge, an immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

Banks had served as Border Patrol chief for roughly a year and four months. He credited his departure with a desire “to enjoy family and life”.

The commissioner for the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Rodney Scott, issued a statement thanking him for his “decades of service”.

Previously, Banks had worked at various levels within the Border Patrol, before leaving in 2023 to serve as the “border czar” for the state of Texas under Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

“During his time as Chief, the border was transformed from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded. We wish him and his family well,” Scott wrote in a statement.

Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security marked Banks’s departure by surfacing a media report accusing him of soliciting prostitutes while abroad.

“Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks has RESIGNED following prostitution allegations,” their social media account posted. “Good riddance.”

A CBP spokesperson told the Washington Examiner newspaper that the allegations had been investigated and “the matter was closed”.

It is unclear who will replace Banks as Border Patrol’s top official. But DHS has experienced a wave of new arrivals to its upper rung in the past few months.

On March 24, Markwayne Mullin, a former senator and mixed martial arts fighter, was confirmed as Homeland Security secretary.

And just this Tuesday, the Trump administration gave the nod for David Venturella, a former executive for the private prison firm Geo Group, to serve as acting director of ICE.