More than 125 illegal immigrants, many with commercial driver’s licenses, were arrested as part of Operation Guardian along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma, according to the governor’s office.
Oklahoma doesn’t want unqualified or illegal drivers behind the wheel of massive 18-wheelers, so it conducted a targeted enforcement operation to nab them.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt took to X to criticize the lax CDL rules in blue states, saying “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.”
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.
OHP performed an enforcement action along I-40 and apprehended 125 illegal immigrants.
This is keeping Oklahomans safe. pic.twitter.com/kNspThTk4E
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) September 29, 2025
Oklahoma Highway Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Oklahoma Corporation Commission conducted the three-day joint law enforcement blitz in western Oklahoma.
News of the sweep comes as the Trump administration on Friday announced new, stricter rules for non-citizens to obtain a commercial driver’s license in the U.S., Deported.news reported.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the process is “absolutely 100% broken” and issued the emergency rule changes following an ongoing audit that “uncovered systemic non-compliance across several states.”
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol encountered numerous truck drivers with licenses issued by sanctuary states that ignore federal immigration laws and enforcement, Stitt’s office said in a news release.
The governor’s office cited an example of a driver with a New York-issued REAL ID commercial driver’s license that listed “No Name Given” as a licensee’s legal name.
Stitt’s office said immigrants in the country without legal status were arrested. They came from several countries, including India, China, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
“These individuals posed a public safety risk by operating 80,000-pound commercial vehicles without proper verification,” Stitt’s office said.
The enforcement effort focused on CDL drivers and commercial trucks licensed and registered in California, the Corporation Commission said in a press release, noting that “130 commercial drivers were arrested and taken off the road for various violations.”
The targeted operation that stopped and inspected truck drivers took place in Beckham County, near the Oklahoma-Texas border.
“OCC welcomed visitors from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share space at the Beckham County Port of Entry last week,” the OCC said.
Oklahoma Corporation Chair Kim David said “Oklahomans deserve safe highways,” continuing, “By working together as law enforcement partners, we’re reducing risks for every driver.”
The issuance of CDLs to foreigners has gained national attention after a fatal wreck in Florida involving a semi-truck driver who was in the U.S. illegally but obtained a commercial driver’s license first in Washington and then in California, ABC News reported.
On Aug. 12, Harjinder Singh was arrested in Florida after making an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike and killing three people in a minivan. ICE issued an immigration detainer on Aug. 16, following Singh’s arrest on three counts of vehicular homicide.
Singh, a 28-year-old native of India, waived his first appearance hearing Monday and entered a not guilty plea, court records show. He is being held in the St. Lucie County Jail in Florida after being denied bond on three counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations, ABC News reported.
California is one of 19 states that issues CDLs regardless of immigration status, Oklahoma Voice reported. So called “non-domiciled” commercial licenses allow people who are not US citizens or permanent residents to get a license to drive vehicles, including large transport trucks.
Governor Stitt rolled out Operation Guardian in February to help support the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The statewide effort is a comprehensive deportation operation that involves multiple “strategies to transfer illegal aliens from state and county custody into federal custody for deportation,” according to a news release.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission serves as the trucking industry regulatory experts for Oklahoma. The state’s five ports of entry monitor and enforce proper registration, operation, permitting and weight limits for commercial trucks.
In fiscal year 2025, more than 5.6 million trucks entered on a highway intersecting one of its ports of entry, which are also located along Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 69.
In far western Oklahoma, almost 1.4 million trucks crossed the state border between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, making the Beckham County POE on eastbound I-40 the best site for the three-day special enforcement.
“There are legitimate concerns with illegal immigrants obtaining CDL’s in other jurisdictions,” said Commissioner Brian Bingman. “The inability to read road signs written in English will lead to accidents. This negligence creates risk for Oklahoma’s drivers.”
Jennifer Young, director of Superior Truck Driving Academy, told KOCO 5 News the new federal rules from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration went into effect Monday and will make it harder for non-citizens to get a CDL.
“I think it really just has to be looked at as an overall safety issue. Whether they’re residents of the United States or not, it’s about all drivers,” Young said.
The new rule “limits individuals eligible for non-domiciled [commercial learner’s permits] and CDLs to foreign individuals in lawful status in the United States in certain employment-based, non-immigrant categories…” the Transportation Department said.
