Mike Banks, the US Border Patrol chief who oversaw a major escalation of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, has retired with immediate effect after 37 years of service. Banks, who led the agency since early 2025, cited personal reasons in an interview with Fox News, stating, “It’s just time.”
His departure follows reports from the Washington Examiner that six current and former border patrol employees accused Banks of regularly paying for sex with prostitutes during trips to Colombia and Thailand over more than a decade. The allegations were investigated twice by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, with one inquiry reportedly ending abruptly while former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in office. CBP described the matter as “closed” last month, stating the allegations dated back more than a decade and were reviewed years ago.
Banks was central to the Trump administration’s controversial immigration policies, overseeing a dramatic expansion of prosecutions for unlawful border crossings, intensified coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the rollout of broader interior enforcement operations. He also launched so-called national defense areas along the southern border, designating large stretches of federal land as military zones patrolled by at least 7,600 troops.
Banks is the latest senior immigration official to leave the administration. Noem was fired in March, and Gregory Bovino, the public face of enforcement in Minneapolis, was demoted earlier this year before retiring. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott thanked Banks for his decades of service, saying his leadership transformed the border “from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded.”
