Operation Guardian CDL Arrests Hit 230 in 15 States

Operation Guardian CDL(Commercial Driver’s License) enforcement went multistate last week. DHS says a 72-hour sweep run by ICE with state and local police in 15 states arrested more than 230 people it describes as in the country illegally, more than 40 of them holders of commercial driver’s licenses. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the results Nov. 2 at a trucking company’s headquarters in Tulsa, Okla., and said the government will also go after companies that repeatedly hire such drivers or broker loads to them, which puts carriers and freight brokers on notice along with the drivers.

The timing matters because the licensing question is largely settled. A federal trucking rule in force since March already strips most noncitizens without permanent residence of eligibility for a CDL. The question now is who answers for the drivers still on the road, and Mullin’s remarks point at the businesses that pay them.

When and where: Oct. 26 to 28 in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, according to DHS figures reported by FreightWaves and Truck News.
What DHS did not release: how many of those arrested were driving when stopped, which states issued their licenses, or whether anyone was charged with license fraud, FreightWaves reported. The outlet said it could not independently verify the figures.
The running total: From Jan. 20, 2025, through Oct. 28, 2026, ICE made 4,795 CDL-related arrests nationwide, and 1,233 of them involved CDL holders, according to the same DHS figures.

Most people arrested were not licensed truckers

DHS’s own numbers describe a roadside immigration operation more than a licensing crackdown. Roughly one in six people arrested in the October sweep held a CDL, based on DHS’s rounded figures. Over the longer 21-month period, about 26 percent of the CDL-related arrests involved license holders, a calculation from the DHS totals. DHS has not said who the others were.

Officials framed the sweep as highway safety, and Mullin said those arrested came from more than 19 countries. “This is a huge public safety issue in Oklahoma when it comes to somebody driving an 80,000 pound truck,” Oklahoma Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said, according to KJRH, adding that the drivers were untrained and could not read or speak English. DHS has not published criminal histories for those arrested. That mirrors the pattern in ICE’s Lone Star Mission in Texas, where Mullin said about 40 percent of those arrested had no criminal background.

From who holds the license to who hires the driver

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s September 2025 interim rule on non-domiciled CDLs, issued by states to drivers who live in the U.S. without permanent residence, was stayed by the D.C. Circuit that November. A final rule took effect March 16, 2026, limiting those licenses to H-2A, H-2B and E-2 visa holders and no longer accepting employment authorization documents, FreightWaves and Transport Topics reported. The D.C. Circuit refused to pause it on May 5 in Lujan v. FMCSA, No. 26-1032, heard argument Sept. 15 and has not ruled. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in May that more than 28,000 improperly issued licenses had been revoked nationwide, Transport Topics reported.

That history complicates one line from Tulsa. Mullin said permanent residents and work-visa holders remain eligible for CDLs if they pass testing, News On 6 reported. Permanent residents can hold ordinary licenses. But as the final rule has been described, non-domiciled licenses are open only to the three visa categories it names. An asylum applicant, TPS holder or parolee can be lawfully employed on a work permit and still be shut out of a CDL, so losing a license does not by itself mean a driver is in the country unlawfully.

The employer warning is the newer element. Mullin told KJRH the government would pursue companies that repeatedly hire these drivers or broker loads to them, and said that has already happened. He named no companies and no penalties. The legal tool for carriers is familiar: Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act bars knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized worker, and it also reaches businesses that use a contract to obtain labor while knowing the worker is unauthorized. That second clause matters in trucking, where many drivers are owner-operators rather than employees. Brokers are a harder case, because they usually contract with motor carriers, not individual drivers, and the open question is what theory DHS would use to reach them. The likely practical effect is more Form I-9 reviews at carriers and tighter vetting by brokers.

Three things will show how far this goes: a D.C. Circuit ruling, any DHS release of the issuing-state breakdown, and the first fines or charges against carriers. DHS’s access to driver records is contested too, after a federal judge found its subpoena for the national CDL database improper. None of the Nov. 2 coverage included a response from drivers’ groups or immigrant advocates.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds an LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Diego and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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