New resignation at the DHS.
Michael Banks, the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, has stepped down from his post effective immediately, becoming the third senior Department of Homeland Security official to exit the agency in the past two months, CNN reported Thursday.
Banks confirmed his departure in remarks to CNN, citing a desire to step away after nearly four decades in federal service. According to the network, he characterized the moment as a turning point after “almost 37 years of public service” and said it was time to focus on family and personal life.
In a statement reported by CNN, Banks said he was proud of his tenure leading Border Patrol and described the current state of the southern border as the most secure in U.S. history. He did not elaborate publicly on the timing of his decision or whether it was prompted by internal disagreements.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, who oversees the parent agency that oversees Border Patrol, acknowledged Banks’s departure in a statement to CNN, thanking him for his decades of public service.
A Career Anchored in Texas Border Policy
Banks’s career in immigration enforcement spans nearly four decades, including a high-profile stint as Texas’s border czar before his federal appointment. In that state-level role, he served as a senior adviser to Texas Governor Greg Abbott during Operation Lone Star — the controversial state-led border enforcement initiative launched in response to what Texas officials characterized as a crisis at the southern border during the Biden administration.
Banks’s leadership of Operation Lone Star drew public praise from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, who later elevated him to lead U.S. Border Patrol following his return to the White House in January 2025.
During Banks’s tenure, the federal immigration enforcement landscape was reshaped by an aggressive expansion of interior immigration operations.
According to CNN, Gregory Bovino — a Border Patrol official who reported through the agency’s chain of command — assumed a central role in the Trump administration’s interior enforcement push, operating with the approval of then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
CNN previously reported that Bovino’s enforcement style generated friction within the federal agency, with some Border Patrol agents reportedly at odds with his approach. The internal tensions formed part of the backdrop against which Banks led the agency in his final months.
Third Major Departure in Two Months
Banks’s resignation is the latest in a series of senior-level departures from the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency at the heart of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
President Trump removed Secretary Kristi Noem from her position in March, following months of controversy.
CNN reported that the controversies involved federal spending on what the network described as exorbitant advertising campaigns under Noem’s leadership, as well as the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier this year. Noem was succeeded by Markwayne Mullin, who has since assumed the role of DHS Secretary.
Last month, acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons also announced his departure, telling colleagues he wanted to spend more time with his family. His final day at ICE is scheduled for May 31. According to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security has named David Venturella — described by the network as a longtime immigration official and former executive at a private prison company — to serve as acting secretary in place of Lyons.
The vacancy at the top of Border Patrol comes at a moment when the agency remains central to the administration’s enforcement priorities. Neither DHS nor the White House has publicly identified a successor to Banks at the time of CNN’s reporting.
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Source: CNN
