U.S. Border Patrol chief resigns in latest immigration shakeup

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, formerly Texas' border czar until his appointment by the second Trump administration last year, is stepping down from his position, three Department of Homeland Security sources told CBS News on Thursday. He informed staff on Thursday of his retirement from Border Patrol, the federal agency that oversees the green-uniformed agents in charge of intercepting the illicit movement of people and drugs into the U.S., including along the border with Mexico. Banks is the latest top Trump administration immigration official to leave in recent months. In March, Kristi Noem was replaced by then-Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin as homeland security secretary. Her ouster came amid growing backlash to her response to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, as well as her role in controversial television advertisements. Outspoken Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino also retired in March, after being sidelined following the controversy around the Minneapolis crackdown. Meanwhile, Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is set to step down at the end of May, and will be replaced on an interim basis by a longtime agency official. Banks told Border Patrol employees in a farewell message on Thursday that "it is time for me to retire and return home to Texas to focus on my family and ranch." U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks at a roundtable in Brownsville, Texas, on Jan. 7, 2026. …