Oklahoma just sent a loud and clear message to Washington and every sanctuary state undermining the rule of law: if you put illegal, unqualified drivers behind the wheel of 80,000-pound rigs, Oklahoma will take them off the road — fast.
In a massive two-day enforcement sweep, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest **70 illegal aliens**, including **34 truckers** who somehow managed to obtain commercial driver’s licenses in far-left sanctuary states like California, Illinois, and New York. Many of these drivers, authorities say, lacked even basic English proficiency — a legal requirement for operating a commercial vehicle in the United States.
The purpose of the operation was simple: protect American motorists from catastrophic danger.
ICE’s Marcos Charles underscored the stakes in a statement: “Illegal aliens arrested behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer can’t even read basic English, endangering everyone they encounter on the roads.” According to ICE, this sweep followed a similar operation just weeks earlier that netted **120 illegal aliens**, including **91 truckers** from places like India, China, and Uzbekistan — all operating unlawfully on American highways.
This is not just a safety issue. It’s a national-sovereignty issue.
Illegal aliens have no business driving 18-wheelers in the United States — especially when they’re being granted CDLs by left-wing states more interested in appeasing activists than enforcing the law. Oklahoma’s actions highlight what many conservative states have been saying for years: if Washington refuses to secure the border, then the states must step in.
Governor Kevin Stitt praised the coordinated operation, known as **Operation Guardian**, for doing exactly that. “To lawfully operate a commercial motor vehicle in Oklahoma, you must be here legally, and you must be able to understand English,” Stitt said. “These are common-sense standards that we will continue to enforce.”
ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan emphasized that the legal framework enabling operations like these — particularly ICE’s **287(g)** program — is proof that federal and local agencies *can* work together when leadership has the will to do so. “Our roads are now safer with these illegal aliens no longer behind the wheel,” Sheahan declared.
The trucking industry, which has long warned about federal complacency and the dangers of unqualified drivers, applauded Oklahoma’s leadership. Shannon Everett of American Truckers United praised the state’s decisive action and urged others to follow. “Oklahoma excels in CMV enforcement against illegal aliens at the wheel,” he said, pointing to the state’s **Secure Roads and Safe Trucking Act of 2025** as a model for the country. “You don’t have to wait for heroes — you can act.”
And that’s the real takeaway: while sanctuary states quietly hand out CDLs to illegal aliens, and while the Biden administration looks the other way, conservative-led states are taking bold action to protect their citizens.
Oklahoma did what Washington refuses to do — enforce the law, defend public safety, and keep dangerous, unqualified, illegal truck drivers off America’s highways.
Other states should take notes. America’s roads — and American lives — depend on it.
