Oklahoma will continue traffic sweeps targeting illegal immigrants with commercial driver’s licenses after a nationwide crackdown highlighted public safety risks following several fatal accidents.
Gov. Kevin Stitt said illegal immigrant commercial drivers pose a risk by operating 80,000-pound commercial vehicles without proper verification.
“I want to thank our troopers and ICE officials for their hard work. This is about keeping Oklahomans safe,” Stitt, a Republican, said in a statement.
Operation Guardian Sweep, a joint effort between the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), began last week along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma.
The operation initially netted more than 125 illegal immigrants from countries including India, Uzbekistan, China, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Mauritania, according to the governor’s office. Ninety of those drivers had a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
Oklahoma Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said the crackdown will continue on commercial truck drivers passing through the state illegally.
“It will absolutely be a sustained model,” he said.
The operation revealed a New York driver with a CDL stating “No Name Given,” which drew considerable attention on social media.
“They don’t even put the full name on the person, and they’re issuing this CDL,” Tipton said. “So it just had a one-word name on the CDL that was presented to us by this driver.”
“If New York wants to hand out CDLs to illegal immigrants with ‘No Name Given,’ that’s on them. The moment they cross into Oklahoma, they answer to our laws,” Stitt stated.
A New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) spokesman told The Epoch Times via email that the commercial license in question was verified through federally issued documentation.
“The individual has lawful status in the United States through a federal employment authorization and was issued a license consistent with federal guidelines,” the New York DMV spokesman stated. “It is not uncommon for individuals from other countries to have only one name.”
In response to a series of fatal truck accidents this year involving illegal immigrants, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy implemented emergency measures on Sept. 26 to tighten commercial license requirements for noncitizens, including English language requirements for truckers.
The rule follows a nationwide audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The findings showed widespread compliance violations in several states. In California, 25 percent of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed were improperly issued. Compliance violations were also found in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington, Duffy said.
On Sept. 29, the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped issuing or renewing CDLs to noncitizen refugees, asylum seekers, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who entered the country as children. Texas’s action complies with the new federal directive.
Duffy singled out California for egregious violations in issuing licenses to foreign drivers, saying 25 percent of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed there were improperly issued.
“The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely 100 percent broken,” Duffy said during a Sept. 26 announcement concerning the changes in how noncitizens can qualify for a CDL. “It has become a threat to public safety, and it is a national emergency that requires action right now.”
Duffy said improper license issuance by states encouraged illegal immigrants to remain, compounding public safety and compliance concerns.
“It’s a national emergency,” he said.
