Six current and former Border Patrol employees have alleged that the man now leading the nation's 20,000-plus Border Patrol agents took regular trips to Colombia and Thailand over the course of a decade to pay for sex with prostitutes.
The Washington Examiner reports that the employees described a pattern of behavior by national Border Patrol chief Michael Banks stretching back to his days as a field operations supervisor in Nogales, Arizona, in the early to mid-2010s.
The allegations carry a particular sting given the Border Patrol's core mission. These are agents tasked with combating human trafficking. Their motto is "Honor First."
Banks, now 53, did not respond to a request for comment.
The accounts are blunt and come from people who say they knew Banks personally. A former agent described the situation in a late March phone call: "He's going to third-world countries to take advantage of poor f***ing women, which disgusts the hell out of me."
A second person told the Washington Examiner that Banks wasn't exactly discreet about his activities: "He would tell people that's why he was going on these trips — he would go there to engage in activities with prostitutes."
That same source drew the direct line between Banks' alleged conduct and the agency's mission:
"In our line of work, part of what we do is try to combat the trafficking of females, that is part of our job. 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."
A retired agent recalled Banks inviting him along on one of these trips. Banks initially said the trips were for scuba diving, then dropped the pretense: "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.'"
The retired agent said he declined and stopped associating with Banks on a personal level. He also acknowledged Banks would likely identify him as a source, and didn't care: "F*** him, because he knows the truth."
CBP, the 68,000-employee federal agency that oversees the Border Patrol, acknowledged the allegations aren't new. A spokesperson said Tuesday afternoon that "these allegations date back more than a decade and were reviewed years ago." The spokesperson added simply: "The matter was closed."
The agency offered its standard language about accountability:
"CBP takes allegations regarding misconduct seriously. We cherish the public's trust and work tirelessly to uphold the rule of law and hold ourselves accountable."
But the timeline raises questions. Banks' behavior was said to have been investigated twice, including once last year. A second source confirmed there was an investigation before Banks left the Border Patrol, saying he "was asked about it, about his trips." The outcome of that inquiry remains unclear. The second investigation reportedly ended abruptly while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in office, leading to more questions than answers.
Around June 2025, the accusations resurfaced, and CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility began digging into Banks' past again, according to three sources. What triggered this renewed scrutiny is not clear.
There is another dimension to this story, and it involves how Banks ended up leading the Border Patrol in the first place. Multiple sources described a tight relationship between Banks and the National Border Patrol Council, the agents' union led by president Paul Perez.
A third person described the dynamic in text messages: "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). He is entirely beholden to them."
A fourth source was more direct: "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."
Perez acknowledged the union's role in recommending Banks but framed it differently, saying the NBPC is "frequently asked by organizations for our opinion on retired CBP and USBP personnel being considered for future positions." He said the union "agreed that he would be a great choice" when Banks was being considered for a position with the State of Texas.
Banks' career trajectory is worth tracking:
A retired senior Border Patrol official, not among the six sources, described Banks as a "long-standing field agent with very little mid to top-level executive experience like prior USBP chiefs." That official did not corroborate the sex tourism allegations.
Banks' wife, Mayra Banks, is herself a rank-and-file agent who met, dated, and married him while he was a manager. She now sits on the union's executive board, though the union's website has not been updated to reflect that change.
The union's official position is clear: Banks was investigated and cleared. The NBPC stated 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."
Perez went further, arguing that Banks had "held senior-level managers accountable, where previous chiefs did not, thereby creating a long list of enemies with an axe to grind." He cast the allegations as retaliation:
"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."
That framing may or may not hold up. Six sources is not one disgruntled employee. And the fact that Banks allegedly bragged about his activities to colleagues, rather than concealing them, complicates the "unfounded" characterization. You don't typically need anonymous tips about behavior that the subject openly describes at work.
One additional detail stands out. After becoming Border Patrol chief, Banks rescinded a policy that forbade fraternization. The article does not specify his stated rationale. But when the man accused of blurring professional and personal boundaries removes the rule designed to maintain them, it does not inspire confidence in the seriousness of the institution's internal guardrails.
The border mission is too important for the person at the top to be a distraction. Whether these allegations ultimately prove disqualifying depends on what the renewed OPR investigation uncovers. But the broader concern isn't just about one man's conduct overseas. It's about the integrity of the leadership pipeline.
A second source framed what's really at stake: "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 Border Patrol demands that its agents live by a code. The men and women who patrol the southern border, process illegal immigrants, and disrupt trafficking networks deserve leadership that embodies the same standard. If the allegations against Banks are substantiated, the agency's credibility problem won't be about one chief. It will be about the system that put him there and the investigations that kept closing without consequence.
The agents on the line already know that. They're the ones who talked.