Six current and former U.S. Border Patrol employees have accused national Border Patrol chief Michael Banks of taking trips abroad over the course of a decade to pay for sex with prostitutes, allegations that Customs and Border Protection says were reviewed years ago and closed, the Washington Examiner reported.
The accusers, speaking on the record to the Examiner's Anna Giaritelli, described a pattern they say stretched from the early-to-mid 2010s through the late 2010s, spanning trips to Colombia, Thailand, and the Mexican city of Hermosillo, Sonora. Banks, now 53, did not respond to a request for comment.
CBP, the 68,000-employee federal agency that oversees the Border Patrol, offered a brief written statement. A spokesperson said "these allegations date back more than a decade and were reviewed years ago." The spokesperson added: "The matter was closed."
That two-sentence dismissal has not satisfied the accusers, or quieted questions about how the man who now leads more than 20,000 Border Patrol agents rose to the top of the agency while these claims circulated internally.
The first source, a retired Border Patrol agent who held a management position, told the Examiner he knew Banks personally when Banks was a field operations supervisor in Nogales, Arizona. He described being invited on a trip abroad.
The retired agent recalled the exchange this way:
"Initially, he said, 'We like to go scuba diving.' But then he's like, 'We get a bunch of prostitutes and have a good time.'"
He said he declined and stopped associating with Banks on a personal level after that. The same source told the Examiner he was later deposed about what Banks had told him, including Banks' alleged trips to Hermosillo to "pick up" prostitutes.
That source explained why he chose to speak publicly despite knowing Banks would identify him. "He's going to know it's me," he said. "F*** him, because he knows the truth."
He framed the conduct in terms of the agency's mission. "Even if prostitution is legal in Colombia, it's illegal for us as agents and against policy for us to engage in that," he said. The Examiner noted that prostitution is legal in both Colombia and Thailand.
A second source, also a current or former Border Patrol employee, said Banks openly discussed the purpose of his trips with colleagues. That source told the Examiner:
"He would tell people that's why he was going on these trips, he would go there to engage in activities with prostitutes. 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."
That same individual drew a direct line between Banks' alleged conduct and the agency's counter-trafficking responsibilities. "In our line of work, part of what we do is try to combat the trafficking of females, that is part of our job," the source said. "It's counter to what we do or what we should be standing for. If you're partaking in those activities, you're supporting the trafficking and exploitation of women."
The Examiner reported that Banks' behavior was investigated by CBP officials twice. At least one employee reported the trips internally to superiors before Banks retired in early 2023 after 24 years of service. But the article noted that any open investigation is automatically wrapped up if an agent leaves the organization, and Banks retired in January 2023.
A second investigation reportedly began around June 2025, after Banks had returned to the Department of Homeland Security in January of that year. Three sources told the Examiner that CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility, the agency's internal affairs arm, began to dig into Banks' past at that time.
What happened next is unclear. The Examiner reported that the investigation ended abruptly while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in office. Noem, who has faced her own share of public controversies at DHS, was not quoted in the report, and the article did not specify whether she played any direct role in ending or overseeing the probe.
CBP did not explain what "reviewed" or "closed" meant in practical terms. The agency did not respond to the Examiner's question about whether its policy prohibits employees from engaging in prostitution in countries where the practice is legal.
The second source said flatly: "There was an investigation before he left the Border Patrol. He was asked about it, about his trips." A third source, a retired senior agent, confirmed that OPR did investigate. "It's a mess," that person said.
The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing rank-and-file agents, defended Banks forcefully. The union said in a statement that "an allegation was made, was investigated, and the subject was cleared of any misconduct, and yes, he is now in charge of 20,000+ USBP employees."
NBPC President Paul Perez went further. He said Banks had "held senior-level managers accountable, where previous chiefs did not, thereby creating a long list of enemies with an axe to grind." Perez cast the allegations as a smear campaign:
"That someone would anonymously dredge up some unfounded allegation as a means to smear Banks today shows how desperate they are to prevent him from holding people accountable for doing their jobs."
But the relationship between Banks and the union drew scrutiny from the accusers themselves. The third source wrote in text messages that Banks was "entirely beholden" to the union. "That's how he got the Texas Border Czar position and how he got the Chief job (the Union made it happen on both accounts)," the retired senior agent wrote.
A fourth source, described as someone familiar with the politics behind the hire but not a current or former Border Patrol employee, was blunter. "The way he got the border czar job was through the union," that person said. "He's owned by the union. Whatever the union wants, they're going to get. They're the one who gave him the job. [Perez] wanted Banks in there because they could have a minion."
The Examiner reported that the union has had deep connections with both Banks and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Perez acknowledged that the NBPC is "frequently asked by organizations for our opinion on retired CBP and USBP personnel being considered for future positions." He added: "When Mike Banks was being considered for a position with the State of Texas, we agreed that he would be a great choice, along with other people who were being considered." The NBPC endorsed Abbott for a fourth term earlier this year.
There is also a personal dimension. Banks' wife, Mayra Banks, is a rank-and-file agent who met, dated, and married Banks while he was a manager. She now sits on the union's executive board. Among Banks' first actions as Border Patrol chief early last year was rescinding a fraternization policy that had forbidden managers from dating lower-level staff, a policy the union had strongly opposed during the Biden administration.
Banks served in the U.S. Navy Military Police before joining the Border Patrol as an agent. He worked his way up to field operations supervisor in Nogales, Arizona, then moved to management in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the late 2010s. He retired in early 2023 after 24 years.
Almost immediately, Abbott named him Texas border czar in January 2023. In that role, Banks oversaw Operation Lone Star and cooperation with federal immigration and customs authorities. Abbott told the Examiner in a January interview that the state's border efforts, including its migrant busing program, had "altered the arc." The governor said President Trump called him after the 2024 election to thank him for the busing program, which Trump said "shined a white-hot spotlight on a very important issue."
When Trump took office in January 2025, Banks returned to DHS. Trump selected former Border Patrol national chief Rodney Scott to lead CBP, and Banks was tapped as the chief of the Border Patrol itself. A retired senior Border Patrol official, not among the six accusers, described Banks as a "long-standing field agent with very little mid to top-level executive experience like prior USBP chiefs."
The Noem household has already weathered reporting that caught DHS leadership off guard, and the Banks allegations add another layer of scrutiny to the department's personnel decisions.
The Examiner's report raises more questions than it settles. CBP has not released any written findings from either investigation. The agency has not clarified whether its ethics rules cover off-duty conduct in countries where prostitution is legal. Banks himself has said nothing publicly.
The second source framed the stakes in terms of institutional credibility. "When you see someone like Banks get promoted to the top position in the entire Border Patrol, and you know his past, it communicates that you can get away with these things," the source said. The agency's own motto is "Honor First."
One of the accusers explained why he chose to speak out now. It bothered him, he said, that the head of the organization had so openly talked about his endeavors, and that nothing had come of it.
The men and women who patrol the southern border deserve leadership that can withstand the same scrutiny the agency demands of its own agents. If the allegations are unfounded, CBP owes the public, and Banks, a clear explanation. Silence is not accountability.
