Federal immigration officials nabbed an illegal migrant truck driver who managed to score a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) despite apparently providing “no name.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Anmol Anmol, an Indian national, along an Oklahoma highway in September, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). During a routine inspection at a truck scale, investigators discovered that, not only was Anmol living in the country unlawfully, but he was using a CDL issued by the State of New York that listed his name as “No Name Given Anmol.”
The arrest follows a wide-scale crackdown by the administration against illegal migrant truck drivers, many of whom have been blamed for deadly highway accidents across the country.
“Allowing illegal aliens to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a public statement. “Thanks to the successful 287g partnership of ICE and Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Anmol Anmol is no longer posing a threat to drivers.”
“New York is not only failing to check if applicants applying to drive 18-wheelers are U.S. citizens but even failing to obtain the full legal names of individuals they are issuing commercial drivers’ licenses to,” McLaughlin continued. “DHS is working with our state and local partners to get illegal alien truck drivers who often don’t know basic traffic laws off our highways.”
The arrest was made during a multi-day joint operation between ICE and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. That operation resulted in the arrest of 120 illegal migrants, including 91 illegal migrants operating commercial motor vehicles along I-40.
Anmol entered the country unlawfully in 2023 and was subsequently released into the country by the Biden administration, according to ICE.
In September, the Department of Transportation announced restrictions on non-domiciled CDLs for foreign nationals after a federal audit uncovered “catastrophic patterns” of states unlawfully issuing licenses to foreign truck drivers. Under the new DOT directive, many non-citizens will not be given non-domiciled CDLs unless they meet a much stricter set of standards.
National concern began in August after an illegal migrant truck driver — also from India — allegedly took an unlawful U-turn on a Florida turnpike, blocking all lanes and instantly killing three people in a car that smashed into his tractor-trailer. Federal investigators later discovered that the driver of that commercial truck did not have basic English skills and could barely identify any highway traffic signs.
Anmol’s case is not an isolated example. In September, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt publicly revealed that law enforcement officials had encountered other foreign national truck drivers carrying commercial licenses with “no name” listed instead of full names.
“If New York wants to hand out CDLs to illegal immigrants with ‘No Name Given,’ that’s on them. The moment they cross into Oklahoma, they answer to our laws,” Stitt stated at the time.
Along with stricter guidelines on foreign national CDL holders, the Trump administration is also forcing greater English language proficiency standards on truck drivers.
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