ICE Operation Arrests 91 Illegal Immigrants With Commercial Driver’s Licenses

Federal immigration officials arrested 120 illegal immigrants, many of whom had a commercial driver’s license (CDL), in an operation across Oklahoma, authorities announced on Oct. 14.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took part in a three-day operation in September along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma in a bid “to disrupt criminal activity and threats to public safety … through vigorous traffic enforcement,” ICE said in a statement.

ICE said it worked with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, making about 520 contacts, and ICE performed investigations into the records of foreign-born individuals encountered by highway patrol officers.

In all, 120 illegal immigrants were detained by ICE for immigration-related offenses. At least 91 had a commercial driver’s license and were operating a commercial motor vehicle, according to the agency.

Another 27 illegal immigrants “were arrested from passenger vehicles during routine traffic stops, and two were arrested from a nearby marijuana grow operation,” the agency stated.

A CDL allows a driver to operate a large, hazardous, or heavy motor vehicle for business purposes, including tractor-trailers, tank trucks, or buses. Generally, a commercial driver’s license requires that operators have a higher standard of knowledge and skills than a regular driver’s license.

ICE broke down the list of detained individuals with CDLs by their respective countries of origin. A plurality—or 39 of those arrested by ICE—were from India, 13 were from Uzbekistan, 12 were Chinese nationals, six were from the country of Georgia, and the rest came from more than a dozen other countries, according to the agency.

ICE said California issued 44 CDLs to the arrested illegal immigrants, followed by New York with 14 and Pennsylvania with 12. Other states that issued the CDLs included Illinois, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, Utah, and Virginia.

“Illegal aliens have no business operating 18-wheelers on America’s highways,” ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said in a statement. “Our roads are now safer with these illegal aliens no longer behind the wheel.”

The official called on more local and state law enforcement agencies to sign onto an ICE program to “help remove public safety threats and receive reimbursement funds available to our law enforcement partners.”

The arrests come about three weeks after the Department of Transportation issued an emergency directive to restrict access to obtaining a CDL or a commercial learner’s permit after multiple high-profile traffic accidents involving illegal immigrants who held CDLs.

An audit detailed by the department revealed “a catastrophic pattern of states issuing licenses illegally to foreign drivers” in recent years, adding that non-U.S. citizens “will not be eligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet a much stricter set of rules, including an employment-based visa and undergoing a mandatory federal immigration status check,” the agency said in a Sept. 26 statement.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in particular, faulted officials in California and implemented more-stringent rules for the state. California now cannot issue CDLs to noncitizens, it must identify undocumented CDLs that don’t comply with federal rules, and revoke noncompliant CDLs among people who aren’t citizens.

Several trucking groups hailed last month’s directive, with the American Trucking Associations saying it is now “imperative that all state driver licensing agencies comply with federal regulations.”