U.S. Border Patrol chief resigns in latest immigration shakeup

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, formerly Texas' borderline czar until his assignment by the 2nd Trump medication past year, is stepping down from his position, 3 Department of Homeland Security sources told CBS News connected Thursday.

He informed unit connected Thursday of his status from Border Patrol, the national bureau that oversees the green-uniformed agents successful complaint of intercepting the illicit question of radical and drugs into the U.S., including on the borderline with Mexico.

Banks is the latest apical Trump medication migration authoritative to permission successful caller months. In March, Kristi Noem was replaced by then-Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin arsenic homeland information secretary. Her ouster came amid increasing backlash to her effect to the fatal shootings of 2 U.S. citizens by national agents successful Minneapolis, arsenic good arsenic her relation successful arguable tv advertisements.

Outspoken Border Patrol commandant Gregory Bovino besides retired successful March, aft being sidelined pursuing the contention astir the Minneapolis crackdown. Meanwhile, Todd Lyons, the acting caput of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is acceptable to measurement down astatine the extremity of May, and volition beryllium replaced connected an interim ground by a longtime bureau official.

Banks told Border Patrol employees successful a farewell connection connected Thursday that "it is clip for maine to discontinue and instrumentality location to Texas to absorption connected my household and ranch."

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks astatine a roundtable successful Brownsville, Texas, connected Jan. 7, 2026. Michael Gonzalez / Getty Images

"What we person accomplished unneurotic successful the past twelvemonth and a fractional is thing abbreviated of amazing," Banks wrote. "You, the men and women of the Border Patrol, took the United States Border from the astir chaotic and unsecured borderline successful the past of this large Nation and person delivered the astir unafraid borderline this state has ever seen."

Banks was tapped to pb Border Patrol successful January 2025, erstwhile President Trump returned to the White House, pledging to motorboat a nationwide deportation blitz and seal the U.S. confederate borderline aft years of grounds amerciable crossings nether the Biden administration.

The assignment was unprecedented, since the Border Patrol main presumption had agelong been filled by vocation bureau officials. Banks took the helm of the bureau arsenic a governmental appointee of the 2nd Trump administration, aft serving arsenic Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's borderline czar. He had antecedently served successful mid-level roles astatine Border Patrol.

Banks noted successful his farewell connection that helium served successful the U.S. Navy for a decade.

During Banks' tenure arsenic chief, Border Patrol was tasked with playing a bigger relation successful migration enforcement acold distant from U.S. borders. 

Border Patrol teams led by Bovino carried retired sweeping and often indiscriminate migration roundups and stops successful large cities similar Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. Those "roving" patrols were mostly discontinued aft the fallout from the Minneapolis operation.