EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Border Patrol chief retires after historic drop in illegal border crossings

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Mike Banks, who was the first U.S. Border Patrol chief during President Donald Trump’s second term, has reentered retirement after helping bring illegal border crossings down to record lows and after 37 years in public service. It’s his second retirement in the last few years.

After serving in the U.S. Navy for 10 years, he joined U.S. Border Patrol in 2000, where he served for nearly 23 years in California, Arizona, Washington, Texas and Washington, D.C.

After 9/11, he served for two years as a U.S. air marshal.

He first retired from the Border Patrol after the Biden administration began implementing policies that facilitated illegal entry into the U.S., resulting in at least 14 million illegal crossings, The Center Square exclusively reported. In the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Rio Grande Valley Sector in South Texas where Banks was serving, the greatest number of illegal border crossers was reported in U.S. history.

While Border Patrol agent in charge of the RGV Sector Weslaco Station in South Texas, Banks said, he was asked to pull the last remaining four to five agents out of the field and move them to a facility to process more people into the country.

“I told them what they were asking wasn’t a lawful order and to put it in writing,” he told The Center Square in an exclusive interview. “I couldn’t in good conscience not have agents defending the border. I chose to honor my oath over keeping my paycheck and put in my retirement.”

Not soon after, Banks was contacted by the governor’s office to discuss a position that didn’t yet exist. Gov. Greg Abbott created Texas’ first border czar position, tapping Banks to fill the role in January 2023, The Center Square reported.

Abbott said he hired Banks to help lead Operation Lone Star efforts “to continue doing what no other state in the history of our country has done to secure the border.

“As an award-winning Border Patrol agent, with decades of federal law enforcement and border security experience,” Banks was “the perfect choice to oversee Texas’ fight against the surge of illegal immigration, lethal drugs, and deadly weapons flowing into our state and nation,” Abbott said.

Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez, who worked with Banks for years, said his “commitment to law enforcement for border security was like no other. He resigned after the Biden administration defied federal law and was immediately hired by Gov. Abbott because of his strong work history. He established the enforcement template for the state of Texas that would then be used as the model under the second Trump administration. Texas and the U.S. owe Mike Banks a debt of gratitude.”

Within a year with Banks as border czar, Operation Lone Star efforts pushed illegal entries west, The Center Square reported.

California became the epicenter for illegal crossings with record volumes of drugs pouring in. Things got so bad in New Mexico that state lawmakers came to Texas and met with Banks to learn what could be done, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Arizona reported record illegal entries and drug volumes, raising national security concerns.

Border crime prosecutions in New Mexico are now at record highs in large part to Banks’ and OLS efforts, The Center Square reported.

Banks also worked closely with an OLS Task Force led by Goliad County Sheriff Roy Boyd to coordinate multiagency efforts.

As Border Patrol chief, “Banks never forgot those on the front lines. He maintained his connectivity with local and state law enforcement to create an unprecedented level of cooperation between Border Patrol and other agencies,” Boyd told The Center Square. “He’s shown how a leader who never forgets that the field troops are the foundation of an agency can make a noticeable difference at a law enforcement agency in a short period of time. I have never known a supervisory agent or leader at the federal level that was as loved and respected by his men and women as Mike Banks. And Banks always returned that respect to his people.”

As Texas border czar, Banks “spent countless hours alongside OLS partners to ensure Texas had the tools and resources necessary to respond to Biden’s border crisis,” Abbott said, adding that he was “grateful for his service.”

Banks’ second Border Patrol retirement “will have negative consequences for our efforts to combat cartel activity in the U.S.,” Boyd added. “Since taking over the field operations of Border Patrol, he transformed the operational status and the moral of Border Patrol agents across the agency. The enthusiasm for working under his leadership was visible during encounters with Border Patrol agents regardless of their duty station. Under Banks’ time in command, we have had the most secure border in history, which gave law enforcement the opportunity to take proactive measures against cartel activity already present in the country.”

Banks was Texas border czar for two years until Trump tapped him to lead the U.S. Border Patrol.

Under Banks, illegal entries at the southwest border dropped by 95%. The largest number of Border Patrol agents were also recruited in U.S. history. Within a year and a half, 2,000 new agents had joined, and another 2,000 were at the Border Patrol Academy.

“We have the largest number of trainees in history with another 2,000 next year,” Banks said.

Agents now total more than 21,000.

Banks also implemented policies “to stop the bleeding of agents leaving the agency and restored integrity,” including retention bonuses and cutting red tape. When he came into office, there were 1,693 policies that prevented agents from doing their jobs, Banks said. When he retired, there were fewer than 400.

This was a reversal from the Biden era marked by massive retirements, low morale and high suicides, The Center Square reported.

“Everything the Biden administration sued Texas over we resumed under President Trump,” Banks said, including installing Texas’ first marine barrier system, The Center Square exclusively reported. He also implemented a PDI strategy and oversaw border wall and concertina wire expansion. “PDI” stands for “position, deter and interdict.”

While Banks was the Border Patrol chief, more than 100 miles of new border wall, more than 600 miles of concertina wire barriers and more than 10 miles of marine barriers were installed.

Another 1,400 miles of border wall and more than 550 miles of marine barriers are contracted.

“We restored the collaborative relationship with Texas to enforce border security. Federal agencies went from fighting Texas to having true collaboration with Texas,” Banks said.

Banks also deputized more than 2,000 Texas National Guard soldiers — troops he’d helped lead as Texas border czar. In the RGV, he swore in 400 within weeks of coming into office.

“It was very rewarding to see all the things the Biden administration fought Texas on and lost that are now being employed by Border Patrol,” Banks said. “Everything I did as Texas border czar is what I learned in 23 years in Border Patrol. It was just that the Biden administration wouldn’t allow Border Patrol to implement border security. This changed by historic measures under Trump.”

“I came in with the least secure border in the history of America,” Banks said. “Now it is the most secure border in my lifetime. We still don’t have complete operational control. We need to get more infrastructure in place [and have] more agents, but we are in a safer place than we were before.

“President Trump understands that border security requires the right combination of technology, infrastructure and personnel,” Banks said. “All three were decimated under Biden. The surveillance cameras turned off or didn’t work. Wall material was left on the ground to rust.

“Morale was at all time low because agents had their hands tied preventing them from upholding their oath to protect Americans and prevent weapons, drugs and people from entering the country illegally,” Banks said.

The former Border Patrol chief added, “President Donald Trump is the best president of my lifetime and absolutely the best president I’ve ever worked for. Trump had the foresight to know we need to get everything in place to prevent future administrations from easily undoing our successes.”

When it comes to his second retirement, Banks told The Center Square, “I never had any desire to be Border Patrol Chief. I never applied. I never applied to be sector chief. I enjoyed being station chief. Being Border Patrol chief was an honor of a lifetime, and one I couldn’t turn down when asked. It was an opportunity to serve my country again.”

He answered the call, took a pay cut, moved to Washington, D.C., and was separated from his wife and family for long periods. He said he planned to stay for two years as the border patrol chief, but explained that successes were so great that it was time to return to his home in South Texas.