Border Patrol Arrests 36 Noncitizen Commercial Truck Drivers in Arizona Operation

Border Patrol agents arrested 36 illegal immigrants driving semitrucks during Operation Checkmate in Arizona’s Yuma sector between May 11 and May 15. Agents detected 52 illegal immigrants in total, with the remaining 16 stopped under other circumstances. Dustin W.

Twenty-nine of the 36 arrested drivers held commercial driver’s licenses issued by states. Indian nationals accounted for 30 of the arrests; the remaining six were citizens of Mexico, El Salvador and Russia. Customs and Border Protection said most of those arrested had held work permits issued under Biden-era programs that the Trump administration later revoked, rendering the permits invalid.

All 36 individuals will be deported. The Transportation Department has withheld some grant funds from California until the state revokes thousands of licenses issued to non-domiciled drivers and changes its issuance practices. In April the department issued a similar declaration against New York.

A federal review of 200 non-domiciled drivers in New York found more than half of the licenses were issued in violation of federal law. Some states issued commercial driver’s licenses that extended beyond the expiration dates of the associated work permits. California, Washington and New York have issued such licenses to drivers lacking firm immigration status.

Florida authorities cited the case of Harjinder Singh, an Indian national who obtained a Washington commercial driver’s license and later made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, killing three people in a minivan. The Supreme Court declined to hear Florida’s challenge to Washington and California licensing practices.