CBP Agents Enter Nation's CDL Enforcement Efforts
Operations Target Immigrant Truck Drivers in California and New York Near US Borders With Mexico, Canada
Key Takeaways:
- U.S. Border Patrol joined federal and state partners in recent operations near the Canadian and Mexican borders, arresting more than 170 truck drivers with commercial licenses who lacked legal U.S. residency.
- The actions spanned California, Arizona and New York from early November through mid-December, targeting highways and checkpoints and involving drivers from dozens of countries holding CDLs from multiple states.
- Officials said the arrested drivers were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings as agencies pledged continued enforcement to address safety and immigration concerns.
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U.S. Border Patrol agents have joined federal efforts to remove truck drivers lacking legal U.S. residency from the road, apprehending more than 170 individuals in a series of operations near the borders of Canada and Mexico.
The latest such action was announced Dec. 19 by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection El Centro Sector, which oversees a 70-mile stretch of border between Mexico and Southern California’s Imperial Valley. Cities in the sector include Calexico, Indio and Riverside.
through vehicle stops at immigration checkpoints along with joint operations with law enforcement. All of those detained held commercial driver licenses but lacked legal U.S. residency.
Included in that total were 42 truck drivers stopped along interstates or at checkpoints on California state routes 86 and 111, both of which link to Interstate 10. The operation was conducted between Nov. 23 and Dec. 12 by agents at the CBP Indio Station. Included were 30 drivers who hailed from India and two from El Salvador. Others came from China, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Turkey and Ukraine.
According to CBP, 31 of the drivers had CDLs from California. Other CDLs were issued by Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.
“El Centro Sector personnel are stalwart defenders of our nation’s security, whether that occurs at the border or in the interior of the United States,” said Joseph Remenar, acting sector chief patrol agent.
“U.S. Border Patrol is committed to identifying and apprehending any subjects who are in the United States illegally,” CBP spokesman Rick Pauza told Transport Topics.
California Joint Effort With ICE
El Centro Sector agents also took part in a two-day dragnet with agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ýland Security Investigations unit in Ontario and Fontana, Calif., that led to the arrest of 45 immigrant drivers holding CDLs but lacking legal residency.
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“The individuals arrested should never have been operating these semi-trucks, and the states issuing them commercial driver’s licenses are directly responsible for the fatal accidents we have tragically witnessed recently. Together, with our allied partners in ýland Security Investigations and other agencies, El Centro Sector will continue to ensure that the safety of the American public is at the forefront of our efforts,” Remenar said.
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In one high-profile example shared on social media, CBP agents from the Blythe Station in the agency’s Yuma Sector — which is responsible for 126 miles along the Mexican border with California and Arizona — apprehended a truck driver from Uzbekistan in the U.S. illegally holding five forms of identification; two from New York and three from Ohio. He was arrested after an accident along I-10 near Quartzsite, Ariz.
The 29-year-old driver was alleged to have entered the U.S. illegally in April 2023 and ordered to leave the country in July via court order. “His choice to violate a judge’s order of deportation was not an accident,” CBP stated. “He was arrested for alien inadmissibility and will be processed for deportation. Local law enforcement towed the semi-truck and trailer from the scene of the accident.”
New York Effort Targets I-90
CBP agents in New York from Nov. 8-11 conducted an operation to intercept immigrants holding state-issued CDLs but lacking permanent legal status. The effort was conducted along the I-90 section of the New York Thruway.
The first phase of the “Operation Bear Cave” effort caught 30 drivers operating in the country without legal status. They were from countries including Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Georgia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
All of them held valid CDLs issued by California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Another seven undocumented immigrants, who weren’t driving the commercial vehicles, were processed and turned over to ICE for deportation proceedings.
A second phase of the effort along interstates 90 and 81. Four foreign truckers were arrested on immigration charges, all of whom held valid CDLs from California, Indiana and New Jersey. A fifth individual was not operating a commercial vehicle when detained. All five were turned over to ICE custody for processing and removal proceedings.
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