Sanctuary Policies Under Fire After Major CDL Bust

WASHINGTON, DC- Law Enforcement Today has reported on illegal alien truck drivers and the carnage some have left on America’s highways. Now, a Florida congressman has seen enough. 

Fox News Digital reports that Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is calling for a federal crackdown on sanctuary state policies that are unleashing illegal tractor-trailer drivers on our roads, urging action against such states that allow illegals to obtain CDL licenses.

Donalds’ plea follows a joint ICE/Oklahoma Highway Patrol operation that saw 70 illegal aliens arrested, including 34 who unlawfully obtained commercial driver's licenses. 

“You have blue states that do not care about the nation’s laws. They want to be sanctuaries, they want to house illegals, and then who pays the price are citizens in red states who actually do not want these sanctuary policies,” Donalds told Fox News Digital. 

He pointed out that the Oklahoma operations underscore the growing risk posed by foreign nationals, many of whom are illegally in the country, who “cannot read our road signs” yet are “gaming the system” to obtain commercial licenses in states like California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. 

“You have the American people, they’re doing the right thing, and now they’re subject to losing their lives or being in an auto accident with a CDL driver who cannot read our signs, who doesn’t know our laws,” Donalds continued.

“These commercial driver’s license operators [are] driving rigs that are 80,000 pounds. That’s insane.” 

Donalds has introduced the WEIGH Act in Congress, a law that would give the federal government tools to prohibit states from issuing CDLs to illegal aliens and punish those who do. 

“This is one of the reasons why I sponsored the WEIGH Act here in D.C.,” he explained.

“It would actually give broader authority for the Department of Transportation to not just hold other states accountable that are letting these CDL licenses be issued, but would also give the Department of Treasury the ability to withhold federal funds in the process.” 

“If you actually penalize these states for allowing this behavior, they’ll then have to turn around and fix it on their end,” Donalds said. “And that’s how you save [the]  lives of the American people.” 

Among the policies being considered is allowing the Department of Transportation to conduct immigration and English-proficiency checks at weigh stations nationwide. 

“If there’s a failure in one of these two, then they detain that driver,” he said. “It gives them the authority to withhold federal transportation dollars from those states…and those are the two mechanisms we believe that will stop a lot of these sanctuary policies in California, in New York, and other blue states in America.” 

“Operation Guardian,” the joint ICE/Oklahoma Highway Patrol operation, a two-day enforcement sweep in late October, resulted in 70 arrests, including 34 illegal aliens operating tractor-trailers. 

ICE said 26 of those drivers held CDLs issued in sanctuary states, while eight others had no commercial license at all. The operation took place under Oklahoma’s 287(g) partnership with ICE to address public safety concerns tied to unlicensed and unauthorized drivers. 

Marcos Charles, executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, noted many of those detained “were operating 80,000-pound tractor-trailers and, in some cases, could not read basic English,” calling it a “serious highway safety risk.” 

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt applauded the joint effort, noting that the state will continue “enforcing common-sense standards” regarding legal status and English proficiency among commercial drivers. 

Unfortunately, the danger extends far beyond one state, which Donalds acknowledged. 

“It’s like somebody driving an 80,000-pound truck that can’t see. It’s that dangerous,” Donalds said. “The issue that happened in Florida is it was a section of turnpike where you’re not allowed to turn around, and the guy turned around. And what happened? You had three people who were killed on Florida highways. It’s that serious…this behavior has to stop. 

Donalds said if sanctuary states “won’t do the right thing,” then the federal government needs to step in to do it. 

“Stop living in this worldview that radical immigration policy is the right thing to do on behalf of the American people. It simply is not. It is making our country less safe,” he said.

“This is not partisan and should not be partisan. This is not ideological and should not be ideological. This is about public safety.” 

“Every governor has a responsibility to do what’s right so that our roads are safe,” he continued. 

One person backing Donalds’ admonishment is National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto, who told Fox News Digital that the situation should never have happened. 

“It’s amazing that we’re even looking at this,” Del Cueto said. “They’re illegals–not only should they not have CDLs, they shouldn’t have any driver’s license. They’re not legally here.” 

ICE announced it will expand Operation Guardian to other states as part of its ongoing focus on highway safety and coordination with state partners. 

In September, a similar operation resulted in 120 arrests, including 91 commercial drivers with criminal histories ranging from DUIs to money laundering and human smuggling.

Officials said the goal is to ensure that “illegal aliens who engage in criminal activity or operate vehicles without proper authorization” are taken off U.S. highways, Fox News reported.