U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks is immediately retiring from his role after nearly four decades in federal law enforcement, marking at least the fifth Homeland Security official to leave the agency tasked with implementing Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
“It’s just time,” he said in a statement to Fox News. “I feel like I got the ship back on course.”
He said it’s now “time to pass the reins” after his 37 years at Border Patrol, which polices American borders under U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Banks also leaves the agency under recent allegations that he “bragged” about hiring sex workers in Colombia and Thailand, among other countries, according to The Washington Examiner. “I don’t know how he became the chief of the Border Patrol with his character,” one former agent told the right-wing outlet last month.
“He’s going to third-world countries to take advantage of poor f****** women, which disgusts the hell out of me,” the person said.
Six current and former Border Patrol employees accused Banks of regularly paying for sex over more than a decade, which was reportedly twice investigated by CBP officials. One of those inquiries allegedly came to an abrupt end while now-former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in office.
A spokesperson for CBP told The Examiner that the matter was “closed” and that the allegations “date back more than a decade and were reviewed years ago.”
In a statement to The Independent, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott thanked the outgoing chief “for his decades of service to this country and congratulate him on his second retirement after returning to serve during one of the most challenging periods for border security.
“During his time as Chief, the border was transformed from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded,” Scott said. “We wish him and his family well.”
The Independent has requested comment from Homeland Security.
His abrupt departure marks the latest high-profile exit from the Trump administration in recent weeks after several Cabinet-level firings and resignations as the president entered a second year back inside the White House.
He’s among at least five Homeland Security officials to leave the agency this year, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Acting Director Todd Lyons, who is also retiring this month.
In March, Trump fired Noem, who was demoted to a diplomatic “special envoy” role. Her deputy, Tricia McLaughlin, also announced she was leaving the agency in February.
And in January, now-former ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan stepped down to run for a congressional seat in Ohio. She lost a Republican primary earlier this month.
Trump also fired Attorney General Pam Bondi after a chaotic 14 months in office, and his scandal-ridden Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned after mounting allegations of misconduct in office.
This week, Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, marking the fourth top agency chief to leave the administration this year.
Despite recent allegations that he had paid for sex, Banks maintained a relatively low profile at the agency compared to other top Border Patrol officials such as Gregory Bovino, who assumed the role of “commander at large” as he led hundreds of federal immigration agents in violent raids in Democratic-led cities across the country.
After Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis in January, sparking international outrage and bipartisan scrutiny into the killings of anti-ICE demonstrators and violent clashes with citizens and immigrants alike, Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, pulled back operations in the city and sent Bovino back to his post in southern California.
In a message to Border Patrol employees on Thursday, Banks said: “It is time for me to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch.”
“What we have accomplished together in the last year and a half is nothing short of amazing,” he wrote. “You, the men and women of the Border Patrol, took the United States Border from the most chaotic and unsecured border in the history of this great Nation and have delivered the most secure border this country has ever seen.”
