The US Division of Homeland Safety has seen a number of high-profile departures, together with Todd Lyons and Kristi Noem.
Printed On 14 Could 2026
Mike Banks has resigned as the pinnacle of america Border Patrol, within the newest turnover to hit President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.
On Thursday, Banks broke the announcement to Fox Information, saying “it’s simply time” for him to depart. He additionally took credit score for a decline in border crossings since Trump took workplace for a second time period.
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“I really feel like I bought the ship again on track from the least safe, disastrous, chaotic border to probably the most safe border this nation has ever seen,” Fox Information quoted Banks as saying. “Time to move the reigns [sic].”
Banks’s departure is the most recent in a collection of high-profile resignations for the Trump administration inside the previous few months.
Many have affected the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), which oversees US Border Patrol and different immigration enforcement businesses, together with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In March, for example, the cupboard secretary accountable for DHS, Kristi Noem, was fired amid questions on her spending – together with $20m on an promoting marketing campaign – in addition to her dealing with of immigration enforcement operations.
Noem has since been reassigned to the Protect of the Americas, an initiative Trump launched to bolster safety throughout the Americas.
In April, Todd Lyons additionally introduced he could be leaving his publish as performing head of ICE, efficient this month.
Like Noem, Lyons had confronted strain from Trump to extend the variety of immigrant detentions and deportations. Additionally like Noem, he had confronted criticism for his workers’s aggressive techniques throughout enforcement operations.
In January, for example, two US residents – Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good – have been shot lifeless by federal brokers throughout Operation Metro Surge, an immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Banks had served as Border Patrol chief for roughly a yr and 4 months. He credited his departure with a want “to get pleasure from household and life”.
The commissioner for the US Customs and Border Safety (CBP), Rodney Scott, issued a press release thanking him for his “many years of service”.
Beforehand, Banks had labored at numerous ranges inside the Border Patrol, earlier than leaving in 2023 to function the “border czar” for the state of Texas underneath Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
“Throughout his time as Chief, the border was reworked from chaos to probably the most safe border ever recorded. We want him and his household nicely,” Scott wrote in a press release.
Democrats on the Home Committee on Homeland Safety marked Banks’s departure by surfacing a media report accusing him of soliciting prostitutes whereas overseas.
“Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks has RESIGNED following prostitution allegations,” their social media account posted. “Good riddance.”
A CBP spokesperson informed the Washington Examiner newspaper that the allegations had been investigated and “the matter was closed”.
It’s unclear who will substitute Banks as Border Patrol’s high official. However DHS has skilled a wave of latest arrivals to its higher rung previously few months.
On March 24, Markwayne Mullin, a former senator and combined martial arts fighter, was confirmed as Homeland Safety secretary.
And simply this Tuesday, the Trump administration gave the nod for David Venturella, a former government for the personal jail agency Geo Group, to function performing director of ICE.
