Migrants wait to surrender to the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border wall from Mexico near Campo, Calif., in 2024. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks resigned Thursday. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
May 14 (UPI) -- Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks stepped down Thursday, saying he's retiring, leaving the position for new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to fill.
Banks told his staff Thursday about his resignation in a farewell message, saying "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," Banks 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."
Banks was hired in January 2025 after serving as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's border czar for two years. Before working for Texas, he spent two decades as a Border Patrol agent before retiring under President Joe Biden. He also spent 10 years in the Navy.
