YUMA, Ariz. — U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 52 illegal aliens during a five-day enforcement operation in the Yuma Sector, including 36 who were behind the wheel of semi-trucks on American highways, Customs and Border Protection announced.
Of the 36 illegal alien commercial drivers detained during Operation Checkmate, 29 held commercial driver’s licenses issued by states including California, New York, Washington, and Virginia. Three possessed no form of driver’s license at all. Thirty of the 36 were nationals of India; the remaining six were from Mexico, El Salvador, and Russia. Most held Employment Authorization Documents obtained during the Biden administration that are no longer valid, CBP said. All 52 individuals were processed under federal law and will be deported.
“Operation Checkmate reflects our commitment to safeguarding communities and roads from unlawfully present drivers who pose significant risks to public safety,” said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Dustin W. Caudle of the Yuma Sector. “My agents are on patrol every day to ensure we stop these individuals and prevent more deadly crashes from occurring on the road across the United States.”
The operation, which ran from May 11 through May 15, targets illegal aliens operating commercial motor vehicles — a category CBP describes as a direct public-safety threat. The Department of Transportation has issued a final rule to bar unqualified foreign drivers from obtaining licenses to drive commercial trucks and buses, a measure CBP said will “eliminate another magnet for people to illegally come to the U.S.” and strengthen what the agency called the most secure border in 50 years.
The scale of the Yuma arrests underscores a pattern that extends well beyond the Southwest border: nearly all of the detained drivers obtained their commercial licenses from states thousands of miles from the border, raising questions about how illegal aliens secured credentials in jurisdictions with no proximity to the enforcement zone. The Biden-era Employment Authorization Documents that most carried had enabled them to apply for state-issued licenses before the current administration revoked their validity.
CBP said the Border Patrol is coordinating with federal partners to enforce the new Department of Transportation rule and restore integrity to the nation’s commercial transportation system. Further Operation Checkmate enforcement actions are expected across additional Border Patrol sectors.