(NewsNation) — As the U.S. Border Patrol shifts to another American city as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, the agency’s chief is backing other top federal officials despite controversy that has kept federal agents in national headlines for months now.
Michael Banks, the Border Patrol chief, says that an agency traditionally known for its work along the U.S.-Mexico border has been operating in more than 25 U.S. cities since President Donald Trump took office in January. This comes as Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino is slated to arrive in Charlotte as early as Saturday, just days after shifting many of his agents out of Chicago.
More than 2,000 federal agents are spread across the country as part of an at-large operation that recently led to the arrest of more than 3,000 people in Chicago. As more Border Patrol agents move into Charlotte as part of a multi-agency effort in which Border Patrol agents are working collaboratively with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Banks said his agency’s main priority remains the same.
“No city in America is going to be a sanctuary city for anyone who is in this country illegally,” Banks told NewsNation in an exclusive interview. “We are going to locate those in this country illegally. We’re going to prosecute them and deport them. There’s going to be more cities to come. This operation is not going to go away; it’s been highly successful.”
He added: “We took an oath to protect America, we have a president that is allowing us to do that, a (Department of Homeland) secretary that has our backs …so there is no city that will not see Border Patrol enforcement actions.”
Banks defends Border Patrol commander, enforcement tactics
Banks said that hundreds, if not thousands, of immigrants who the agency said entered the United States illegally are being removed daily. Yet, in places like Chicago, attorneys representing some of those detained by federal agents are challenging the arrests being made.
A federal judge in Chicago this week ordered the release of more than 600 migrants arrested since June, saying detainees were taken into federal custody without a warrant or probable cause. The judge has given the federal government a deadline to provide a list of detainees who present a risk, ordered that those who do not be released on $1,500 bond pending a review of their case.
Banks defends the work of Bovino and federal agents, saying that everything the Border Patrol is doing on the nation’s interior is part of a targeted operation. He said that research done on migrants being targeted by the agency may take them to specific locations or to places like Home Depot parking lots, where enforcement operations have taken place this year in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago.
NewsNation sources said this week that Border Patrol agents under Bovino’s leadership will move from Charlotte and then to New Orleans as part of the at-large operation. Yet, despite recently leaving Chicago, Department of Homeland Security officials insist the agency’s work there isn’t done and will continue despite a large contingent of Border Patrol moving on.
“We know who we’re looking for,” Banks told NewsNation, adding that others, considered “collaterals,” may also be detained as part of the operation.
“Criminal illegal aliens prey on the illegal alien community, expecting that they won’t be reported. So if our targeted enforcement takes us to a Home Depot parking lot, then that’s where we’ll go. If it takes us to an apartment building where criminal illegal aliens are running criminal enterprises, that’s where we’re going to be.”
The federal crackdown has led to continued clashes between agents and officers and protesters, most recently in Chicago. Bovino came under fire during the two-month enforcement effort for the agency’s use of force against journalists, protesters and clergy. Judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order and a more recently, a preliminary injunction, which is being challenged by the Trump administration.
That case is expected to go to trial next spring, Ellis said this week, as restrictions on federal agents working in Chicago continue. But Banks applauds the work being done there, citing levels of pressure and attacks on federal agents, who have used tear gas and pepper balls to cope with growing protests.
Bovino and Border Patrol agents remain the target of elected officials in Chicago, where Banks said political rhetoric from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is putting his agents at risk.
“They’re trying to get people to believe those lies that maybe they’re doing something righteous in preventing a kidnapping,” Banks said. “The United States Border Patrol doesn’t kidnap anyone. We arrest people who are in this country illegally, and we put them through the system to get them prosecuted and removed from this country. What we need is for more people to look with their eyes and see what is going on.”
Border Patrol recruitment, interest at record levels, chief says
Amid an effort to make up for staffing shortages that led the Border Patrol to offer double pay to draw retired agents back to work, Banks said the agency is seeing a record number of volunteers and applicants. Banks said that more than 1,000 people were put through the training academy last year and that more than 1,000 people are enrolled in the academy currently.
Banks said recruiting has never been better for an agency that is also continuing its work along the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition to the number of applicants for open roles, he said that volunteers continue to offer their services, citing anger and frustration over the Biden administration’s handling of the border.
Banks said ongoing enforcement efforts along the U.S. southern border include deploying a wall of boats across the Rio Grande River in Texas, where illegal crossings have continued. He said officials reported 131 illegal entries earlier this week, but that the agency’s mission is a complete shutdown.
That effort is being done, Banks said, as the agency also continues to eliminate the number of “gotaways”, representing those immigrants who cross into the United States undetected between ports of entry.
Data analyzed by NewsNation shows that border officials are still experiencing about 1,300 gotaways per month and about 800 monthly encounters between migrants crossing into the United States illegally and federal agents.
“Our goal is complete and total operational control of the border,” Banks said.