U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) teamed up with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) for a three-day operation that resulted in the arrest of 120 illegal aliens.
The operation, conducted from September 22 to 25 along Interstate 40 in western Oklahoma, highlighted the effectiveness of ICE’s 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to assist in identifying and detaining individuals who violate immigration laws.
During the special emphasis on traffic enforcement, OHP made around 520 contacts, with ICE officers running records checks on foreign-born nationals encountered during routine patrols.
Of the 120 arrested:
- Ninety-one were operating commercial motor vehicles with Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs). These individuals hailed from countries including India (39), China (12), Uzbekistan (13), and others such as Russia, Georgia, and Türkiye. Many were overstays, had pending asylum claims, or had entered illegally. Shockingly, their CDLs were issued primarily by blue states: California (44), New York (14), Pennsylvania (12), and Illinois (11), with a few issued by other states, such as New Jersey and Florida.
- Twenty-seven were arrested from passenger vehicles during traffic stops: Most were from Mexico (15) and Guatemala (10), with others from China and Cuba. Seventeen had entered illegally with no prior record, nine had been previously deported (six multiple times), and one had been denied a visa before sneaking in. Twenty-three of them entered the U.S. between 2020 and 2024.
- Two were taken into custody from a nearby marijuana grow operation.
Many of these illegal aliens had serious criminal histories, including multiple DUIs, unlawful reentry into the U.S., money laundering, human smuggling, assault, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and possession of controlled substances.
This operation underscores the dangers posed by unchecked illegal immigration, especially when it involves individuals driving massive 18-wheelers on American highways.
ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan praised the partnership in a press release, stating, “ICE’s 287(g) program clearly demonstrates how federal and local law enforcement agencies can work together to make America safe again,” said Madison Sheahan, ICE Deputy Director. “Illegal aliens have no business operating 18 wheelers on America’s highways. Our roads are now safer with these illegal aliens no longer behind the wheel. We encourage more state and local law enforcement to sign 287(g) agreements to help remove public safety threats and receive reimbursement funds available to our law enforcement partners.”
As noted in the release, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has taken emergency action to restrict non-domiciled CDLs for non-citizens, requiring stricter rules like employment-based visas and federal immigration checks via the SAVE system.
“What our team has discovered should disturb and anger every American,” said Duffy in a press release.
Duffy continued, “Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers – often times illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it. Today’s actions will prevent unsafe foreign drivers from renewing their license and hold states accountable to immediately invalidate improperly issued licenses.”
Moves like this are crucial in combating the Biden-era border crisis that allowed so many of these individuals to enter and obtain licenses in the first place.