Trump picks Texas’ Mike Banks to lead Border Patrol, reports say

President-elect Donald Trump will tap Texas Border Czar Mike Banks to lead the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to multiple reports.

The news has already drawn praise from Sen. John Cornyn and others.

Mike Banks

Trump Transition 

What we know:

Trump has promised swift action on illegal immigration once he’s sworn in on Monday.

Multiple reports say he will tap Banks to lead the agency that oversees the U.S. Border Patrol.

"Texas is going to protect Texas. We are going to defend Texas. And where Texas goes, the rest of America goes," Banks has previously said.

Related

Gov. Greg Abbott hires 'border czar' to accelerate wall construction

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday the creation of a Texas "border czar" and said he has appointed a recently retired Border Patrol agent to that position who will "tap his expertise to deploy strategies that reduce illegal immigration and keep our community safe."

On Friday, Trump’s nominee for Homeland Security Secretary, Gov. Kristi Noem from South Dakota, talked about border priorities at her Senate confirmation hearing.

"As a nation, we have the right and the responsibility to secure our borders against those who would do us harm," she said.

Experts predict a flurry of executive orders related to the border beginning on Monday.

What they're saying:

Sen. Cornyn said he thinks Banks is a "great choice" for the Customs and Border Protection role.

"I know Mike, and I think it's an inspired choice, and nobody understands the border better than Texans," Cornyn said, according to the Texas Tribune. "Texas obviously has the biggest border, longest border, and I really like the idea that we're going to have somebody who understands the Texas border."

Immigration Reform

One high-profile promise from Trump is to end birthright citizenship, something many legal experts say can only be done by amending the U.S. Constitution.

"I think Trump is making a slightly different argument. He’s arguing that the children of illegal aliens are not themselves birthright citizens. Or he might argue that the children of people who are invading the United States as an argument are not citizens," said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law. "There’ll be lawsuits over everything. It’ll be lawsuits very quickly. The question is, what sort of legal rights do these migrants have when they come here in terms of conditions and confinement."

Another campaign promise was mass deportations.

Trump has floated the idea of using the military to assist.

"They can go to the border, but they cannot touch anybody. They cannot arrest anybody. They can be there and transport illegals and help with the process, but they cannot really interact with them unless it’s a time of war," said Raed Gonzalez, an immigration lawyer.

Related

Trump's mass deportation plan easier said than done, immigration lawyer says

President-elect Donald Trump says on the first day of his presidency he will deport millions who are in the country illegally. FOX 4 talked to an immigration lawyer about the plan.

The Trump team indicated mass deportations would start with illegal immigrants who are criminals.

That process will be less controversial, according to Gonzalez. But there have been some hurdles.

"There’s many of those criminals that we cannot deport because their home country does not want to accept them at this time. I believe that those are going to be deported by force and all of those are going to be the primary ones," he said.

The Source: The information in this story comes from interviews with constitutional law professor Josh Blackman and immigration lawyer Raed Gonzalez, as well as past news coverage and a Texas Tribune report.

U.S. Border SecurityTexasPoliticsImmigrationDonald J. Trump