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Oklahoma leads 15-state truck driver enforcement operation
Dragnet targeting holders of unauthorized CDLs included arrests of about 40 foreign truckers with deportation orders
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has operated under an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than a year. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol via Facebook)
Key Takeaways:
- Oklahoma and 14 other states conducted a 72-hour enforcement operation Oct. 26-28, arresting more than 40 foreign truckers among 230 undocumented immigrants.
- Officials said the coordinated operation countered social media warnings directing drivers around Oklahoma, while Indiana inspected more than 500 commercial vehicles.
- Oklahoma plans to continue targeting unauthorized drivers and the trucking companies and brokers that use them, Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said.
Oklahoma and 14 other states formed an enforcement dragnet from the Canadian border to the Gulf Coast targeting foreign truck drivers with deportation orders, countering social media warnings to avoid individual states.
In what is being called the first such large multistate bust, troopers recently joined with federal immigration agents in the 72-hour sting through which more than 40 foreign truckers were arrested among 230 undocumented immigrants.
Results of the Oct. 26-28 operation — dubbed Operation Guardian — targeting foreign holders of unauthorized commercial driver licenses were announced at Melton Truck Lines in Tulsa, Okla., by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and state Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton.
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Mullin and Tipton addressed the public safety importance arising from the enforcement operation while commending trained truckers and professional companies like Melton Truck Lines.
Drivers warned to avoid Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has operated under an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than a year, with commercial vehicle immigration enforcement operations launched in September 2025.
Troopers have focused on trucks hauling eastbound freight on Interstate 40 and Oklahoma’s ports of entry.
After seeing social media warnings urging drivers to divert around Oklahoma during enforcement operations, the state coordinated with the 14 other states to conduct enforcement simultaneously. This operation with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas created a dragnet from the Canadian border across the Midwest and South to the Gulf Coast.
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Tipton said Oklahoma intelligence analysts were seeing warnings posted as soon as troopers began enforcement at ports of entry.
“Our goal was to stop diverting,” Tipton said. “Our intel analysts would immediately start seeing social media posts and things like that from the East and West Coast telling each other that ‘Hey, Oklahoma is back at it again. Divert, go around Oklahoma.’ ”
Russell Hott, ICE assistant director, said the agency’s CDL enforcement has focused on drivers with final orders of removal who completed immigration proceedings but remained in the country.
“These are individuals who had their day in court, who had due process and the opportunity to present additional evidence,” Hott said. “They were ordered removed and refused to go.”
Other arrests and offenses
Individuals were arrested on outstanding felony warrants and in cases involving domestic assault, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and suspected human trafficking.
In one case, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras was stopped while allegedly driving a stolen vehicle. Authorities said the suspect assaulted an Oklahoma trooper, who suffered a dislocated elbow and broken arm, before fleeing. The suspect was found hiding in a tree after a four-hour manhunt and allegedly had illegal drugs in his possession.
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The undocumented drivers were from countries such as Armenia, Brazil, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Peru and Ukraine.
Tipton said Oklahoma intends to continue the operations, targeting both unauthorized drivers and the trucking companies and brokers that use them. He said troopers also have uncovered other alleged criminal activity during the stops.
“It’s just not that they’re here illegally, it’s just that they’re driving a truck, they’re untrained and shouldn’t even be in the truck, but we find other criminal conduct as well,” Tipton said.
Indiana enforcement results
While most state police agencies that participated in Operation Guardian didn’t publicize their enforcement results, Indiana State Police noted its officers “targeted secondary and bypass routes to eliminate avenues criminals typically use to evade high-level enforcement activities on major interstate corridors.”
Just more than 500 CMVs were inspected, with 85 vehicles ordered out of service and 51 drivers removed from behind the wheel. Eight drivers were placed OOS for violating English-language proficiency regulations.
Troopers arrested 28 people for criminal offenses resulting in a total of 36 charges. Seized narcotics included:
Cannabis (124.5 pounds)
Methamphetamines (6.1 grams)
Fentanyl (1.3 grams)
