87 Truckers Arrested Across Riverside County, IE Region, During Immigration Crackdown
INDIO, CA — A federal crackdown on commercial truck drivers who were not born in the United States has resulted in dozens of arrests in Southern California.
According to an announcement Friday from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents from Border Patrol's Indio Station took 42 migrant truckers into custody during a period spanning Nov. 23 through Dec. 12. The drivers were operating semitrucks and traveling on state Routes 86 and 111, or traversing the immigration checkpoints on those highways, when they were arrested.
All had commercial driver's licenses, according to CBP. California issued 31 of the licenses, while the others were issued in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, CBP reported.
Thirty of the drivers 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.
Additionally, border patrol agents from the Indio Station participated in "Operation Highway Sentinel," a two-day, joint, large-scale enforcement operation in Ontario and Fontana led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. The Inland Empire is home to one of the nation's largest concentrations of logistics centers.
The Dec. 10 and 11 crackdown, designed specifically to target commercial trucking companies in California, resulted in the arrests of 45 "illegal aliens" with commercial driver's licenses, according to CBP.
It's unclear how many of the truckers apprehended during the crackdowns were following proper procedures — such as having legal work authorization and attending mandatory court check-ins. There was no indication from CBP of criminal records.
CBP did not dispute the validity of the driver's licenses.
"The individuals arrested should never have been operating these semitrucks, and the states issuing them commercial driver's licenses are directly responsible for the fatal accidents we have tragically witnessed recently," said El Centro Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Remenar.
Migrant advocates argue that migrant truckers across the nation — many of them refugees, asylum seekers, or DACA recipients — are being unfairly targeted for deportation, and it's causing a severe shortage of commercial drivers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy disputes the claim. He has publicly said that the shortages stem from falling wages due to competition from migrant drivers.
"There's a lot of Americans who want to get behind the wheel of a big rig," Duffy said during an October press conference. "These are, and have been, really great-paying jobs."
This month's arrests of truckers in Southern California follow the Trump administration's Dec. 1 announcement that it was revoking the accreditation of nearly 3,000 U.S. commercial driver's license training centers because the facilities failed to equip trainees "with the Trump Administration's standards of readiness." Another 4,500 training providers were placed on notice due to potential noncompliance.
According to the administration, the affected training centers were found to have falsified or manipulated training data; neglected to meet required curriculum standards, facility conditions, or instructor qualifications; and/or failed to maintain accurate, complete documentation or refused to provide records during federal audits or investigations.
The trade group, American Trucking Associations, praised the administration's Dec. 1 announcement, saying it was "the right message."
Several weeks prior to the Dec. 1 announcement, the Trump administration said it would withhold federal funding from states that fail to enforce new English-language proficiency standards for truckers. Earlier this month, California sued the Trump administration for withholding more than $33 million in federal funding after the U.S. Department of Transportation said the state failed to comply with English proficiency rules.
California said it enforces federally compatible language standards for commercial drivers. State officials called the Trump administration's decision "arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law." The state also argues the administration is wreaking "significant economic damage" by withholding the federal funding.
