Over 40 Illegal Immigrants With Commercial Driver’s Licenses Arrested

More than 40 illegal immigrants with commercial driver’s licenses were arrested during a three-day operation spanning 15 states.

In total, more than 230 illegal immigrants were arrested between Oct. 26 and 28 during Operation Guardian, which targeted illegal immigrants in the trucking sector who hold unauthorized licenses or pose public safety threats.

One of the arrested individuals is an illegal immigrant from Honduras who was apprehended by authorities while driving a vehicle reported to be stolen, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Nov. 2 statement. During the arrest, the person allegedly broke an officer’s arm. The individual is facing charges of assault and impeding officers.

States involved in the operation are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 1,233 arrests involving commercial driver’s license holders between Jan. 20, 2025, and Oct. 28, 2026, according to DHS.

In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a policy mandating English-only tests for truckers seeking commercial driver’s licenses to ensure drivers can read road signs correctly and communicate appropriately with law enforcement officers.

In July, the Department of Transportation said it removed almost 10,000 commercial driver training providers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s training provider registry for failing to meet required readiness standards.

Duffy said at the time that more than 24,000 drivers were taken off the roads for failing to speak English and that multiple states were forced to cancel more than 28,000 licenses that were issued illegally to foreign drivers.

The push to ensure the integrity of the commercial driver’s license system comes amid multiple accidents involving illegal immigrant drivers.

In March, an Indian illegal immigrant who was driving a semi-truck was accused of killing two people in a crash in California. The individual entered the country illegally and was arrested by Border Patrol but was ultimately released into the United States under the previous administration.

California granted the person a commercial license in May 2025. DHS said in September that the license was active despite three convictions on the immigrant’s driving record: improper lane or location, following too closely, and speeding.

In February, immigration officials arrested a Kyrgyzstan national after his truck allegedly hit a van and killed four individuals in Indiana. The driver was charged in March with seven criminal counts, including reckless homicide, according to the Jay County Prosecutor’s Office.

In August 2025, an illegal immigrant truck driver was accused of causing a crash that killed three people in Florida.

Legal Challenge

The Trump administration is facing a legal challenge over its crackdown on problematic foreign drivers.

In a Feb. 11 statement, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced a final rule clarifying that foreign drivers who have not undergone consular and interagency screening won’t receive a commercial license.

“A critical safety gap allowed unqualified drivers with unknown driving histories to get behind the wheel of commercial vehicles,” the federal trucking regulator’s administrator, Derek D. Barrs, said in the statement. “We are closing that gap today to ensure that only qualified, vetted drivers are operating on our nation’s roadways.”

Nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen filed a lawsuit challenging the rule on behalf of certain immigrants and groups, noting that the rule bars immigrants, including asylum seekers, from holding a commercial license despite having work authorization.

The policy would cause roughly 200,000 individuals employed as commercial drivers to lose their licenses, including those who drive trucks, school buses, and delivery vans, Public Citizen said.

In a March 2026 filing with the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the regulator said that the plaintiffs’ arguments rely on a mischaracterization that the final rule was premised on the notion that immigrant drivers, as a group, posed a safety hazard.

“That is not the case,” the filing said.

States may not have access to the driving histories of immigrant commercial license applicants, which will affect their ability to assess a driver’s safety record, the regulator said in the filing.

Oral arguments were held on Sept. 15, and the case is ongoing.

The Department of Justice said in August that multiple officials from the Trump administration have agreed to an interagency effort to crack down on fraud in the U.S. trucking sector.

Measures include removing 110 commercial license schools associated with more than 5,000 drivers who failed English language tests and launching a nationwide audit of third-party skills testers and the oversight states have over them.

“Foreigners and illegal aliens have exploited America’s trucking industry, often putting unqualified, improperly trained, non-English speaking drivers on our highways. Some may be hauling drugs or weapons for international crimes networks,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

“The drivers and companies that allow for this dangerous activity will no longer get a pass.”