Officers from the Customs and Border Protection agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in two separate actions arrested more than 80 undocumented immigrants who held commercial driver's licenses and were driving tractor-trailers.
A statement from CBP said El Centro Sector agents arrested 49 truckers in the U.S. illegally were arrested during vehicle stops at immigration checkpoints and in interagency operations.
Between Nov. 23 and Dec. 12, agents apprehended 42 drivers on interstate or traversing immigration checkpoints on highways 86 and 111. Of those arrested, 30 were from India, two were from El Salvador, and the remainder were from China, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Turkey, and Ukraine, according to CBP.
California issued 31 of the commercial driver’s licenses; eight licenses were issued by Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, the agency said.
On Dec. 10 and 11, agents participated in Operation Highway Sentinel, a two-day, large-scale enforcement operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Ontario and Fontana, California.
Operation Highway Sentinel resulted in 45 arrests. CBP's statement said the operation targeted commercial trucking companies in California. The agency said it was launched after several fatal accidents were caused by undocumented immigrants who had been issued commercial driver’s licenses and were operating tractor-trailers at the time of the accidents.
