Trump's Border Patrol Chief Abruptly Steps Down After Prostitution Allegations Resurface

Just weeks after Customs and Border Protection saw one of its highest-ranking officials depart following the retirement of the Border Patrol's "commander-at-large" Gregory Bovino, the agency is now facing another major exit after Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks announced May 14 that he was stepping down effective immediately.

According to sources familiar with his retirement, Banks informed staff he was leaving the federal agency immediately, becoming the latest immigration official to depart in recent months and the first since Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin replaced Kristi Noem as DHS secretary in March.

The Washington Examiner reporter journalist Anna Giaritelli said today on social media, that there are new accusations against the exiting Border Patrol commander: "Banks is accused of bragging about traveling aboard for "sex tourism.'" This was the reporter who broke the story about his alledged sex trips to Sount America.

"As one agent told me: 'In our line of work, part of what we do is try to combat the trafficking of females,' he said. 'If you're partaking in those activities, you're supporting the trafficking and exploitation of women.'"

Giaritelli added that "Michael Banks' first actions as Border Patrol chief early last year was to rescind a policy that forbade fraternization. (Banks' second wife was a rank-and-file agent who is now an executive in the Border Patrol union.)

Managers would no longer be required to alert Border Patrol about dating a lower-level member of staff, a measure that was originally put in place to ensure relationships were consensual and not out of pressure from a superior."

Banks disclosed the decision during an interview with Fox News. "It's just time," Banks told the outlet. "I feel like I got the ship back on course from the least secure, disastrous, chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen," he said.

Banks also told Border Patrol employees in a farewell message Thursday that "it was time" for him to retire and return to Texas "to focus on my family and ranch."

Before joining Border Patrol, Banks served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years before joining CBP in 2000, where he held multiple roles over more than two decades. Banks left Border Patrol in 2022 following what was described as a disagreement over former President Joe Biden's border policies.

Shortly after, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Banks as the state's first border czar, a position he held from January 2023 until January 2025, when President Donald Trump appointed him Border Patrol chief.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, whose agency oversees Border Patrol, thanked Banks in a statement for "his decades of service to this country."

Banks' resignation comes weeks after the Washington Examiner's exclusive report citing six current and former Border Patrol employees who accused him of repeatedly paying for sex with prostitutes during trips to Colombia and Thailand over a span of years and discussing the trips with colleagues.

"He would tell people that's why he was going on these trips — he would go there to engage in activities with prostitutes," one source told the Examiner. "So I think those stories are out everywhere, and you can't put them away or not give it attention because he was the one telling people about these trips."

The allegations were reportedly investigated twice by CBP officials, with one inquiry said to have ended abruptly while former DHS Secretary Noem was in office. CBP described the matter as "closed" last month, with a spokesperson telling the Examiner the allegations "date back more than a decade and were reviewed years ago."