Mike Banks Resigns As U.S. Border Patrol Chief In Trump Immigration Leadership Shakeup

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks resigned Thursday, telling Fox News, “It’s just time,” as he stepped down from the role he held in President Donald Trump’s second term.

“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”

Al Jazeera

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott thanked Banks for “his decades of service to this country” and said “During his time as Chief, the border was transformed from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded.”

Al Jazeera

The resignation came as the Trump administration continued a leadership shakeup across immigration enforcement, with Al Jazeera describing it as “the latest turnover to hit President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.”

Banks said he felt he “got the ship back on course from the least secure, disastrous, chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen,” and NBC News reported the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Weeks before the resignation, the Washington Examiner report cited by MS NOW said Banks “regularly paid for sex with prostitutes during trips abroad” and “bragged” about the encounters to colleagues.

MS NOW also quoted CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott saying, “We thank U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks for his decades of service to this country,” while the same report described Banks as “the latest top immigration official to leave the Trump administration.”

BBC

Al Jazeera said Democrats on the House Committee on Homeland Security marked Banks’s departure by posting, “Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks has RESIGNED following prostitution allegations,” adding “Good riddance.”

A CBP spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the allegations had been investigated and “the matter was closed,” according to Al Jazeera.

Banks’s exit is set against a broader transition at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where acting director Todd Lyons is leaving later this month and will be replaced by David Venturella, according to Al Jazeera.

“On Monday, January 26, the U”

BFM

Politico reported that Banks’s departure comes weeks before acting ICE director Todd Lyons will officially step down and be replaced by former private prison executive David Venturella.

CBS News said Banks informed staff on Thursday of his retirement, and it quoted his farewell message: “It is time for me to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch.”

CBS News also reported that Banks was tapped to lead Border Patrol in January 2025 after President Trump returned to the White House, pledging to launch a nationwide deportation blitz and seal the U.S. southern border.