The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today the arrest of an illegal alien driving a commercial 18-wheeler, an incident that has exposed significant flaws in the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) by the state of New York. The arrest is part of a broader DHS initiative to remove undocumented truck drivers from the nation’s highways.
The individual, identified by DHS as Anmol Anmol, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a routine inspection by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol on September 23, 2025. During the stop at a truck scale on I-40, record checks revealed that Anmol, an Indian national, was in the U.S. illegally.
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License Issued to ‘No Name Given Anmol’
Compounding the severity of the violation, DHS reports that Anmol was operating the commercial vehicle using a CDL issued by New York State to “No Name Given Anmol.” ICE confirmed that Anmol entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and was subsequently released into the country by the Biden administration.
“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,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “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 praised the joint effort that led to the arrest. “Thanks to the successful 287(g) partnership of ICE and Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Anmol Anmol is no longer posing a threat to drivers,” she added. Anmol has been placed in removal proceedings.
Targeted Operation on I-40
The arrest was a result of a successful three-day enforcement operation conducted by ICE and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol targeting public safety threats along I-40 in Oklahoma. The operation leveraged the state’s 287(g) partnership, which authorizes state and local law enforcement to perform certain immigration law enforcement functions.
DHS is now working with the Department of Transportation, as well as state and local partners, to address the issue of undocumented truck drivers on major routes.
The agency cited recent, high-profile incidents involving illegal alien truck drivers as evidence of the threat. In September, an illegal alien’s multi-vehicle wreck in California left a 5-year-old girl with critical injuries. In August, ICE lodged a detainer for a criminal illegal alien, Harjinder Singh, following his arrest for three counts of vehicular homicide while driving a semi-truck in Florida.
“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,” McLaughlin concluded.
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