Border Patrol chief Michael Banks resigns his position

By Priscilla Alvarez, Michael Williams, CNN

(CNN) — US Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks told CNN Thursday he was stepping down from his post, effective immediately, marking the latest senior immigration official to leave the Department of Homeland Security since Secretary Markwayne Mullin stepped into the top job.

In a statement, Banks said he was “proud” of his time at Border Patrol and was leaving the job now with “the most secure border” in the nation’s history.

“After almost 37 years of public service now is my time to enjoy family and life,” he said.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, whose agency includes Border Patrol, thanked Banks in a statement for “his decades of service to this country.”

Banks was s a long time Border Patrol agent who previously served as Texas’ border czar.

In that post, he worked as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s adviser during Operation Lone Star, the state’s response to what Texas officials described as a border crisis under President Joe Biden’s administration.

That operation, and Banks’ role in it, won praise from President Donald Trump, who appointed Banks as the top Border Patrol official in January 2025.

During Banks’ tenure, a subordinate Border Patrol official, Gregory Bovino, took the helm of the administration’s immigration crackdown in the interior of the United States, with the approval of then-Secretary Kristi Noem. Bovino’s aggressive style put him at odds with some agents in the federal agency.

Banks’ departure marks the third high-profile turnover within the Department of Homeland Security in two months.

Trump fired the agency’s secretary, Kristi Noem, in March following months of controversies surrounding federal spending on exorbitant advertising campaigns under her tenure, along with the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Mullin was later tapped to replace Noem and has since assumed the post of head of DHS, which is the department at the center of Trump’s immigration agenda.

Last month, acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons announced he was stepping away from his position, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. His last day will be May 31.

DHS said David Venturella, a longtime immigration official and former private prison firm executive, will replace Lyons.

This article has been updated with additional developments.

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