Border Patrol agents in Southern California arrested nearly 50 illegal aliens operating semi‑trucks with state‑issued commercial driver’s licenses in just three weeks, exposing what federal officials say is a growing public‑safety crisis tied to California’s rubber‑stamped licensing system.
The arrests—made at El Centro Sector highway checkpoints and during a multi‑agency trucking sweep—come as the U.S. Department of Transportation threatens to withhold millions in highway funds unless the state reins in its improper issuance of commercial licenses to non‑citizens. The drivers were observed operating semi-tractor-trailers at checkpoints within the Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector on state highways 86 and 111.
Between November 23 and December 12, agents assigned to the Indio, California, station working at the two checkpoints arrested 42 illegal aliens with commercial driver’s licenses. In another simultaneous multi-agency operation, an additional seven illegal aliens were found with valid commercial driver’s licenses in Ontario and Fontana, California by Indio Station agents.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), of those arrested, 30 were Indian citizens, two were from El Salvador, and the remainder were from China, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Of the 31 commercial driver’s license holders encountered at border checkpoints, 31 were issued by the State of California. The remainder were issued by Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Acting Border Patrol Chief Joseph Remenar of the El Centro Sector commented on the results of the operation, saying, “El Centro Sector personnel are stalwart defenders of our nation’s security, whether that occurs at the border or in the interior of the United States. Since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2026, El Centro Sector’s arrests of individuals in the interior have surpassed those at the border, directly illustrating what can be accomplished when a secure border is achieved.”
In a single two-day period, on December 10 and 11, Border Patrol agents from Indio were deployed to Ontario and Fontana, California, to participate in Operation Highway Sentinel, a large-scale enforcement operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations branch.
In addition to the seven illegal alien commercial driver’s license holders arrested by the border patrol agents, 38 others were taken off California highways by the multi-agency law enforcement agents participating in the operation. The illegal aliens arrested during the two-day operation included nationals of Tajikistan, India, and Uzbekistan.
Operation Highway Sentinel targeted commercial over-the-road trucking companies operating throughout California. According to CBP, the operation was conceived and launched after several fatal accidents were caused by illegal aliens who had been issued commercial driver’s licenses and were operating semi-tractor-trailer trucks at the time of the accidents.
The operation follows efforts by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to crack down on the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses to unqualified immigrants. In March, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy signed an order announcing new guidelines to strengthen English language enforcement for commercial truck operators. According to the USDOT, under the new guidance, commercial motor vehicle drivers who fail to comply with longstanding English-language proficiency requirements under federal guidelines will be placed out of service.
As reported by Breitbart Texas’s Bob Price, California is at the top of the list of states accused of rubber-stamping thousands of illegal commercial driver’s licenses in the illegal alien trucking scandal facing the nation. A recent Department of Transportation audit has revealed that 25 percent of the state’s non‑domiciled Commercial Vehicle Driver’s Licenses were issued improperly. In some cases, the validity of the license exceeded that of the immigration documents, which were set to expire much earlier. USDOT Secretary Duffy has threatened to withhold millions in highway funds from California unless the state remedies the situation.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X @RandyClarkBBTX.
