Border Patrol chief Mike Banks resigning to 'enjoy family and life'

After about a year on the job, U.S. Border Patrol chief Mike Banks is out, making him the latest senior immigration official to leave the Department of Homeland Security this year.

Banks, 53, told CNN and Fox News that he is stepping down from his post effective immediately and that he was “proud” of his time at the Border Patrol, which ends with him leaving the United States with its “most secure border” in history.

“After almost 37 years of public service, now is my time to enjoy family and life,” Banks told the outlets.

Banks was appointed as Border Patrol chief in January 2025 as President Donald Trump began his second administration. Previously, he served as Texas’s first-ever “border czar” appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

In an emailed statement to USA TODAY, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott thanked Banks for his “decades of service” to the country.

“During his time as Chief, the border was transformed from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded. We wish him and his family well,” Scott said.

Who is Mike Banks?

Banks earned his associate's degree in administration of justice from Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista, California, and a bachelor of applied science at South Texas College, according to his LinkedIn.

He would also serve 10 years in the U.S. Navy before joining the U.S. Border Patrol in 2000.

While with Border Patrol, he held leadership positions in Texas, Arizona and California. He would retire from CBP after 23 years in January 2023, only to be named by Abbott as Texas' first border czar later that month.

Top Trump officials on the way out

Banks is only the latest high-profile official to step down or be fired less than halfway through Trump’s second term in office.

Last month, Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi following her botched release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Despite the firing, the president praised Bondi as a "great American patriot and a loyal friend," adding that she would transition to the private sector.

Another high-profile DHS official, Kristi Noem, who served as Homeland Security secretary and oversaw Trump's promise of mass deportations, was fired March 5, not long after lawmakers grilled her about her department’s massive spending.

Also in March, another member of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, Greg Bovino, announced his retirement at the end of March following heavy criticism from lawmakers and civil rights advocates for his aggressive tactics and handling of operations in Minnesota, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY  

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.