Tom Homan, who oversees border policy under President Trump, has stated that sanctuary city policies from Democrats are shielding numerous undocumented truck drivers amid intensified federal enforcement efforts.
Homan praised the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for effectively eliminating commercial driver licenses (CDLs) granted to undocumented immigrants during the Biden administration. However, he pointed out that this progress mainly occurs in red states, as blue states are hindering federal agents from accessing their DMV records.
“We’re successfully removing thousands of undocumented immigrants with CDLs and partnering closely with many states. However, while DHS collaborates well with red states, blue states continue to resist. For instance, in New York, ICE and CBP are unable to access the DMV database to conduct necessary checks,” Homan mentioned in an interview.
He criticized laws in blue states that protect certain groups.
“The persistence of sanctuary states and cities is unfortunate. Thankfully, Todd Blanche is taking legal action against these cities, and we need to keep pursuing such lawsuits,” he added.
“We’re actively enforcing the law, focusing on undocumented individuals with CDLs. In fact, ICE has apprehended over 10,000 undocumented immigrants in just the past five days, setting a record for the agency,” he claimed.
Homan noted that ICE recently targeted truck driver weigh stations nationwide to catch undocumented truck drivers.
“In several states, we’re even coordinating with law enforcement at weigh stations to manage the situation, so it’s ongoing,” he explained.
This initiative to remove undocumented immigrants from the trucking sector is especially crucial as more Americans are losing their lives in accidents involving untrained truck drivers who often can’t communicate in English or read traffic signs.
For instance, Bekzod Aslalov, a 42-year-old undocumented immigrant from Uzbekistan, was arrested this month for allegedly killing 21-year-old Toby Forsyth. Reports indicate that Aslalov could not communicate in English, requiring medical responders to utilize Google Translate at the crash site.
Additionally, an undocumented immigrant from Haiti, driving a commercial vehicle on Interstate 81, collided with Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahila Jr., who was performing a road safety inspection of another truck.
The truck that crashed into Officer Pahila’s vehicle was operated by Michael Bon, a 33-year-old Haitian immigrant whose temporary protected status was ended by the Trump administration. Despite being advised to leave the country, reports indicate that Bon possessed a Massachusetts driver’s license and was functioning as a commercial truck driver.
In another incident, a Sikh immigrant in Chicago struck a driver who was changing a tire on the side of Interstate 80. Authorities found that Kulgit Khan, 34, was using his cell phone when the incident occurred, and he did not stop after hitting the stranded driver.
These instances represent just a few of the many cases where lives have been lost due to accidents involving undocumented truck drivers.
