Nearly 300 illegal immigrants with commercial driver’s licenses were stopped at Indiana state weigh stations over the last three months, according to state officials.
The statewide crackdown also found that most of the drivers were carrying commercial driver’s licenses issued by states, including New York and California.
It’s another example of how sanctuary state policies affect residents across the country, as these long-haul truckers traverse America’s interstates and highways.
California and New York, which don’t require U.S. citizenship to get a commercial license, have been targeted by the Trump administration for unlawfully issuing non-domiciled CDLs to illegal immigrants.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has pulled federal highway funding from both New York and California after the states refused to revoke commercial drivers’ licenses illegally issued to immigrant truck drivers.
Tony Ferraro, a top aide to Gov. Mike Braun, told the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission that the state flagged 283 undocumented drivers during a 90‑day stretch. He also serves on the regional planning commission.
They were identified during inspections at Indiana weigh stations, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“That’s over three a day that we pulled out of trucks,” he said, per the Chicago Tribune.
“The bottom line is it was illegal. It was against the law. We prosecuted and took over the enforcement action.”
Indiana does not issue CDLs to illegal immigrants and recently passed its own state law to eliminate nearly all non-domiciled CDLs, aligning with new federal guidelines. The licenses remain available to limited temporary foreign workers.
Unlike Braun’s Blue state neighbors, his administration has stepped up highway inspections and immigration-related enforcement efforts to support the Trump administration’s CDL crackdown.
Indiana, dubbed the Crossroads of America, has a central role in cross-country transportation. The state has also had its share of serious crashes involving semi-truck drivers in the country illegally, including a quadruple fatality in Jay County, Indiana, on Feb. 3 that killed four Amish men.
A new state law that took effect April 1 tightly restricts foreign drivers from obtaining a non-domiciled CDL in Indiana. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles revoked “nearly all” non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, WTHR 13 News reported.
House Bill 1200 also requires commercial truck drivers in Indiana to prove English proficiency by passing both written and skills exams. The measure, signed by Braun, was propelled by fatal crashes and tighter federal guidelines.
Ferraro not specify what law the drivers broke or what charges they may face, or whether they’ve been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federal rules generally require CDL holders to be legally authorized to work in the United States. The legality surrounding Indiana’s enforcement is murky due to how individual states issue CDLs, the New York Post reported.
A valid CDL issued by a state with less stringent requirements may still permit a driver to legally operate a commercial vehicle, potentially opening the Hoosier State to challenges, according to legal experts.
However, a nationwide audit conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration discovered concerning procedural errors in several states, including issuing CDLs with expiration dates beyond the drivers’ work permit authorization.
The audit found states, particularly Democratic-controlled states, failed to verify information or issued CDLs contrary to federal DOT rules and regulations.
In New York, the investigation exposed a 53% failure rate in the records sampled, indicating “a total collapse in the administration of New York’s non-domiciled CDL program.”
Auditors found the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles issued commercial licenses to foreign drivers without providing any evidence that it had verified their work authorization or legal status in the United States.
And in California, the DOT last year pressured the state’s DMV to cancel 20,000 licenses for nondomiciled drivers for similar issues.
