U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens has been replaced at the federal law enforcement organization, and the Trump administration has selected Texas’s top border official, Mike Banks, to fill his boots starting Monday.
The Washington Examiner confirmed Friday morning that Banks will start his role at the 20,000-person Border Patrol during “Trump’s swearing-in” at the Capitol on Inauguration Day.
Banks is a two-decade retired Border Patrol agent who signed on as the “border czar” for Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) two years ago to oversee the state and local law enforcement’s Operation Lone Star border security initiative and cooperation with federal immigration and customs authorities.
Owens will not technically leave the office for another three months, though Banks will be on the job next week, according to sources familiar with the plans.
Owens submitted a letter to select colleagues in which he informed them of his forthcoming departure in three months.
“On April 30th, I will retire from the United States Border Patrol,” Owens wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner. “Looking ahead, I will leave with a profound sense of optimism about its future and that of our country. I will take comfort knowing that you are on our frontline, standing between the innocent and the evil.”
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Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called Banks’s appointment a “great choice.” The position is not technically an appointment but selected within the Department of Homeland Security.
“@TexasBorderCzar Mike Banks is a great choice by @realDonaldTrump to be the next U.S. Border Patrol chief,” Cornyn wrote in a reaction post on X. “Nobody understands the border better than Texans. Mike served @GovAbbott & the Lone Star State well & I have no doubt that he will do the same back at the Border Patrol.”
.@TexasBorderCzar Mike Banks is a great choice by @realDonaldTrump to be the next U.S. Border Patrol chief.
Nobody understands the border better than Texans.
Mike served @GovAbbott & the Lone Star State well & I have no doubt that he will do the same back at the Border… https://t.co/HDbRKjFaIu
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) January 16, 2025