Red States Crack Down on Illegal Immigrant Truckers
More than a dozen red states join federal efforts to arrest over 200 illegal immigrant truck drivers.
2 min read
More than a dozen red states have coordinated a crackdown on illegal immigrant truck drivers to prevent them from evading law enforcement by rerouting through other states. Oklahoma’s Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton announced the multi-state operation, which involved 14 states working in unison with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
Coordinated Enforcement Effort
Tipton revealed that when state troopers began targeting illegal truckers alongside federal authorities, social media posts began circulating urging foreign drivers to “divert” and avoid Oklahoma. To counter this, Oklahoma reached out to 14 other states to conduct simultaneous enforcement efforts, aiming to prevent illegal truckers from bypassing law enforcement.
Participating states include Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Missouri, among others. Over a 72-hour period, authorities across these red states, along with ICE, arrested more than 230 illegal immigrants, including over 40 with commercial driver’s licenses, in an expansion of Oklahoma’s “Operation Guardian.”
Arrests and Public Safety Concerns
Among those arrested were illegal immigrants from Armenia, Brazil, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mongolia, Peru, and Ukraine. Many of them were released into the country under the Biden administration.
Tipton emphasized the importance of these operations, stating that the goal is to continue until trucking companies and brokers hiring these individuals are forced out of business. He highlighted the dangers posed by untrained, illegal drivers, noting that they often have felony warrants, domestic assault cases, and multiple DUI cases.
During the operation, a trooper pulled over a vehicle carrying five adult men under investigation for human trafficking and a 17-year-old girl who came across the border alone under the Biden administration. All occupants were in the country illegally and had deportation orders. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed that federal authorities had been searching for the girl, and she was located due to the operation.
In another incident, an illegal immigrant was caught driving a stolen vehicle and allegedly assaulted a trooper, leaving him with a dislocated elbow and a broken arm, before fleeing the scene. After a four-hour manhunt, authorities captured him and found that he had methamphetamine.
Tipton reiterated that this is a significant public safety issue, particularly with drivers operating 80,000-pound trucks who lack proper training and language skills. He warned of the devastating effects of such incidents, which have been observed across the country.
Source: Daily Wire
