Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol have yet again raided I-40 looking for "illegal alien" drivers, this time finding 70, with 34 of them truck drivers.
Oklahoma is one of several states that have partnered with ICE through the 287(g) program to empower state law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration policy.
[Related: Homeland Security explains how 'illegal aliens' get CDLs in the U.S.]
Now "every trooper in the state" has the authority to "interrogate any illegal alien, arrest and remove any illegal aliens, and detain and transport them," Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said in the aftermath of the first raid on the interstate, which happened in late September.
The enforcement action, called Operation Guardian, found "70 illegal aliens during a two-day special emphasis operation from Oct. 28-29, including 36 criminal aliens and 34 found violating state law by operating a semi-truck or commercial vehicle while in the U.S. illegally," a DHS release said.
When it came to states that had issued licenses to the illegal alien drivers, DHS said it was the usual suspects: California, Illinois, and New York.
ICE shared these images of two California-issued CDLs in announcing the latest raids on I-40. ICE blames the "sanctuary" policies of California for licensing "illegal aliens."
ICE told Overdrive the operation intended "to disrupt criminal activity and threats to public safety along I-40 in Eastern Oklahoma through vigorous traffic enforcement."
The operation included about 500 contacts that were made by Oklahoma DPS, with ICE assisting by running records checks on foreign nationals.
Of the 34 truck drivers arrested, four had overstayed their legal presence in the country, while 30 were found to have made an "Illegal Entry" or had some humanitarian parole, pending asylum claim or immigration judge hearing scheduled.
[Related: Homeland Security explains how 'illegal aliens' get CDLs in the United States]
The September raid on the same interstate resulted in 520 contacts, with 120 arrests, 90 of those being commercial vehicle drivers.
However, many of those truck drivers didn't even bother to get a CDL. "This effort led to the arrest of 70 illegal aliens," DHS said, "including 26 who had been issued a CDL and 8 other aliens who were dangerously driving a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver’s license at all."
Drivers without CDLs have become a growing concern for DOT and DHS.
On October 15, driver Borko Stankovic "was operating a semi-truck without a valid commercial license, when he swerved into oncoming traffic and hit a Subaru Crosstrek," killing its driver on U.S. 20 in Indiana, according to a Department of Homeland Security release. In 2024, FMCSA recorded 35,476 "Operating a CMV without a CDL" violations, comprising almost 18% of all driver OOS violations.
Indiana, another 287(g) partner, launched its own raids with ICE on I-94.
Duffy in late October vowed to "go after" carriers that hire those drivers without CDLs, and pinned blame for trucking's prolonged recession on cut rate carriers that hire unqualified drivers.
[Related: DOT's Duffy killed the 'driver shortage' narrative -- and now ATA has buried it]
36 arrested during the Oklahoma operation "have been convicted of violent crimes and other criminal offenses that endanger public safety, such as assault and battery, soliciting prostitution, and DUI, and two of the aliens arrested are wanted overseas for fraud and burglary," DHS wrote. "Three other aliens encountered during the operation were criminally arrested for obstruction and resisting arrest and immigration detainers were lodged with the Oklahoma County Jail."
Not only did these CMV drivers get arrested by ICE, but they were also charged with offenses of the Oklahoma Secure Roads and Safe Trucking Act of 2025 and subject to $3,000 fines.
Those arrested came from from 17 different countries (listed below with the number of those arrest shown next to the country name):
- China - 1
- Columbia - 1
- Cuba - 3
- El Salvador - 3
- Georgia - 2
- Guatemala - 2
- Haiti - 1
- Honduras - 3
- India - 7
- Kazakhstan - 1
- Kyrgyzstan - 4
- Mexico - 29
- Nicaragua - 1
- Türkiye - 2
- Ukraine - 1
- Uzbekistan - 8
- Venezuela - 1
“For the second time in just the past month, the state of Oklahoma and ICE have banded together to bolster public safety along Oklahoma’s highways, identifying and apprehending illegal aliens who are in the country illegally and have been recklessly issued a commercial driver’s license by states like California, Illinois, and New Jersey,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Executive Associate Director Marcos Charles. “Many of the illegal aliens arrested behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer can’t even read basic English, endangering everyone they encounter on the roads.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said the operation "continues to successfully keep Oklahomans safe. To lawfully operate a commercial motor vehicle in Oklahoma, you must be here legally, and you must be able to understand English. These are common sense standards that we will continue to enforce.”
DOT in late September released an emergency final rule that sought to remove nearly 200,000 non-domiciled CDL drivers from commercial vehicle driving, citing lapses in state licensing programs and a string of horrific accidents. A lawsuit, brought in part by a non-citizen owner-operator and non-domiciled CDL holder, seeks to block that rule, and now awaits a court's decision on the matter.
But whether or not DOT's purge of 200,000 non-citizens takes place through tightening CDL requirements for non-citizens, this DOT has made it clear through its cooperation with DHS that it wants non-citizens out of truck driving jobs. One analyst predicted the Trump administration's immigration crackdown might sideline a total of 614,000 non-citizen drivers from trucking, while another predicted the shock to the market could bring rates roaring back to 2021 territory.
