An ICE operation in Oklahoma targeting unauthorized immigrant truck drivers led to the arrest of numerous individuals, according to Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK). During his appearance on News Daily, he shared details about the raid, which uncovered drivers with licenses that simply read “no name given” and who lacked English proficiency.
Host Mike Slater discussed the raid, which unfolded in Mullin’s home state, resulting in the detention of many undocumented immigrants. Senator Mullin explained his significant involvement in the operation, collaborating with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
“This was a coordinated effort with the Highway Patrol, and we had been planning this for a while,” Mullin stated. “The operation was prompted by suspicious activities reported at a truck stop by other trucking companies. It took place just off I-40, as trucks entered Oklahoma from New Mexico.”
Within the first three hours, Mullin reported that authorities stopped 17 semi-trucks, all operated by drivers unable to communicate in English.
He further explained that the commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) these drivers carried were issued in New York or California, all marked with “no name given” as the name. “Each one had a photo but listed ‘no name given’ as the name, and despite being from New York, Oakland, and California, the licenses were identical. We apprehended 70 undocumented immigrants that first day.”
The operation had to pause because of inadequate resources to manage the impounded trucks. “We ran out of space and equipment to remove the semis from the road. That was on Wednesday,” Mullin noted. “We resumed on Thursday, doubling the number of arrests and truck seizures. By Friday, the word had spread, and the trucks had rerouted to avoid Oklahoma,” he concluded.
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Mullin said everyone was “blown away by the amount of semis that were out there, and these guys can’t speak English.”
“How in the world are they driving on the roads? How are they delivering when they can’t read, and if they can’t read, they probably can’t write in English. And there’s no there’s no name. It literally says no name given. But since there’s no name given, they don’t have medical papers. … And these individuals, they’re driving, and they don’t have any medical records … They’re not running electronic devices, electronic log devices, and so they’re completely 100 percent illegal and are driving coast to coast, and there’s no background on them,” the senator said.
“It’s absolutely scary when you see this on our interstates across the country. So, DHS and the department of transportation partnered,” he said, calling on other states to do this.
“You got to realize that these guys are driving across your state, and there’s no background check, and we don’t even know. We can’t even tell that they actually went to school to learn to drive a truck or not,” he added.
