Mike Banks steps down as Border Patrol chief after 37-year career
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US Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks instructed Fox News on Thursday he’s resigning, efficient instantly.
“It’s just time,” Banks instructed Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin.
“I really feel like I acquired the ship again on the right track from the least safe, disastrous, chaotic border to the most secure border this nation has ever seen,” he stated. “Time to pass the reigns, 37 years, it’s time to enjoy the family and life.”
Banks has beforehand detailed his upbringing within the small city of Warner Robins, Georgia. He stated he was raised primarily by his grandmother, who was on a set revenue, as his single mom struggled to boost his two older half-sisters.
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FILE – Former US Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks speaks with a Border Patrol agent on the Calexico Border Patrol Station in El Centro, California, March 11, 2025. (USBP picture by Julie Diaz)
To assist his grandmother pay the payments, Banks stated he started working full-time within the summers and part-time through the faculty 12 months selecting peaches, working alongside migrant farmworkers.
According to an interview printed on the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) web site, Banks stated the expertise had given him a deep sense of humility and compassion, instructing him what it takes to help a household.
Banks enlisted within the military at 17 years outdated and served for a decade in each fight and peacetime, abroad and within the US, primarily in regulation enforcement roles.
After listening to tales from CBP brokers, Banks utilized to the company in 2000.
FILE – Former US Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in El Paso, Texas, in February 2025. (USBP picture by Maria Alatorre)
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Over his 23 years within the Border Patrol, Banks held quite a few management positions and labored in lots of items, together with ATVs, horse patrol, bikes, boats, tunnel group, investigations and prosecutions.
Frustrated by what he described as the “destruction” of morale and border safety through the first two years of the Biden administration, Banks retired from the Border Patrol and went to work for the state of Texas.
He stated he watched the scenario deteriorate additional earlier than returning to lead the agency as chief beneath the second Trump administration.
Former US Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks speaks with Border Patrol brokers assigned to the All-Terrain Vehicle Unit. (USBP picture by Julie Diaz)
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It is unclear who will change him.
The White House, US Department of Homeland Security and CBP didn’t instantly reply to Fox News Digital’s requests for remark.
This is a breaking information story. Please test again for updates.
