Border Patrol chief Michael Banks resigns amid immigration shakeup

Michael Banks abruptly resigned as U.S. Border Patrol chief and left the Department of Homeland Security with another senior enforcement post in flux as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown continued to reshape the agency.

Banks said his departure was effective immediately. He had been named to the post in January 2025 after two decades with Border Patrol, then left the agency in 2023 to become Texas’ border czar before returning to Washington as a political appointee. In a farewell message to staff, Banks said, “it is time for me to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch.”

His exit underscored how much turnover has hit the immigration apparatus inside DHS in recent months. Kristi Noem was replaced in March by Markwayne Mullin as homeland security secretary, Gregory Bovino retired the same month, and Todd Lyons is expected to step down as acting ICE director at the end of May and be replaced by David Venturella. Reuters also reported that Tom Homan has taken on expanded authority over enforcement operations. For an agency that depends on tight coordination between headquarters and the field, the leadership churn points to strain in the machinery of an aggressive enforcement push.

The Border Patrol sits at the center of that effort. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the agency has a $1.4 billion operating budget and 20 sector offices, covering the long and highly fragmented U.S.-Mexico border. The stakes are high because Border Patrol is the main federal force handling illegal entry and smuggling between ports of entry. Even so, the numbers suggest the administration has already driven a sharp drop in crossings: Reuters cited government figures showing 86,000 migrant arrests at the border from February 2025 to January 2026, down from 956,000 in the prior year. DHS also said Border Patrol apprehensions in June 2025 were 8,039 and total CBP encounters were 25,243, both record lows.

Rodney Scott, the CBP commissioner, thanked Banks for his decades of service and said the border had been transformed into “the most secure border ever recorded.” The White House did not immediately respond to his resignation.

The departure comes as the administration recalibrates its immigration posture after criticism of enforcement tactics, including backlash over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. It has also sought to soften its messaging by moving away from the phrase “mass deportation,” even as Border Patrol agents were surged into major U.S. cities. Banks kept a lower public profile than some of his peers, but his exit still adds to the sense that the enforcement campaign is being run through constant personnel changes rather than a stable long-term command structure.