Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks Announces Retirement After 16 Months Leading Agency

Michael Banks, the national chief of the Border Patrol, announced in a letter to employees on Thursday that he will retire from his post. Thursday was May 14, 2026. His resignation comes after a Washington Examiner investigation into his personal conduct, the outlet reported.

In an email to staff on Thursday morning, Banks stated that he would return to Texas to focus on his family and ranch. Banks led the 19,500-member Border Patrol for nearly 16 months since President Donald Trump took office. He addressed the workforce directly in the letter.

“To the men and women of the United States Border Patrol, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to serve with you day in and day out, not just for the last year and half as your Chief but throughout my career,” Banks wrote. He continued, “It was never a goal of mine to become the Chief of the United States Border Patrol but given the opportunity I would do it again 100 times over.

” Banks, who is 53 years old, added a personal reflection on his rise through the ranks.

“To the men and women that will continue to wear the uniform and protect this great nation defending our borders and our sovereignty know this; you are protecting and defending the sovereignty of the greatest nation in the history of the world, the nation that allowed a poor kid from a trailer park in central Georgia to not only serve his country in the military, but lead the finest law enforcement agency in this country as the Chief of the United States Border Patrol,” Banks wrote.

” The Washington Examiner reported on April 1, 2026, that Banks was known among colleagues for taking regular trips abroad to engage in sex with prostitutes. Banks bragged to colleagues while in his previous management role at Border Patrol about paying for sex with prostitutes while traveling in Colombia and Thailand over the course of a decade, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Banks had faced scrutiny in light of revelations about his personal conduct. Banks’s behavior was investigated by Customs and Border Protection officials twice, including last year. The investigation ended abruptly while Kristi Noem was in office.

One former Border Patrol agent told the Washington Examiner that Banks had personally pushed him to come along on one of the trips. CBP has not yet publicly announced Banks’s retirement. CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A senior administration official told the Washington Examiner that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin met privately with National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez on Wednesday to discuss Banks. The meeting between Markwayne Mullin and Paul Perez occurred on May 13, 2026.

The same official said Mullin has been cleaning house since taking office in March and replacing Kristi Noem as DHS secretary.

Mullin is responsible for selecting a replacement for Banks. The position of Border Patrol chief is not a Senate-confirmed role. Prior to being selected as Border Patrol chief, Banks worked for Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) as the state’s border czar during the Biden administration.

Banks’s wife, Mayra Banks, is a rank-and-file agent whom he met, dated, and married while he was a Border Patrol manager. Mayra Banks now sits on the union’s executive board. Perez and the union were heavily involved in the selection of Banks to lead Border Patrol when Trump took office.