The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) are still cleaning up along the southern border. Oh, there are still attempts being made to cross into the United States, and there are still attempts to traffic people across that border. Worse, there are still illegal aliens driving around with commercial drivers' licenses (CDL) from blue states, most notably California. But we're seeing more and more of them caught.
First example: In August, the Yuma Station Border Patrol intercepted one such human smuggling attempt.
On August 7, 2026, Yuma Station Border Patrol agents assisted state law enforcement officers during a vehicle stop on I-8.
— Chief Patrol Agent - Yuma Sector (@USBPChiefYUM) August 28, 2026
Agents determined the driver, a citizen of El Salvador, and four passengers, citizens of Mexico, were unlawfully present in the United States. All five… pic.twitter.com/3m56bCOfFW
The post reads:
On August 7, 2026, Yuma Station Border Patrol agents assisted state law enforcement officers during a vehicle stop on I-8. Agents determined the driver, a citizen of El Salvador, and four passengers, citizens of Mexico, were unlawfully present in the United States. All five individuals were taken into custody. The driver was referred for prosecution under 8 USC 1324 for alien smuggling and the four smuggled aliens were processed for removal proceedings.
Law enforcement partnerships remain critical to border security and public safety.
That's the first item of good news, and we presume that, unlike what would have happened only a few short months ago, these people in the United States illegally are now (or have been) repatriated. But the big issue, that of blue states, most notably California, issuing CDLs to illegal aliens remains. In the Yuma sector, the Border Patrol is dealing with that issue as well.
Federal authorities arrested 95 commercial truck drivers identified as illegal aliens during a multi-agency enforcement operation in Arizona’s Yuma Sector, with more than three-quarters carrying commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued by California.
The U.S. Border Patrol conducted the operation with local law enforcement partners from Aug. 10 through Aug. 14, resulting in 143 arrests involving individuals from 18 countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Of the 95 truck drivers arrested, 76 possessed California CDLs, while six held licenses issued by New York. CBP said the remaining licenses came from other states but did not identify them individually.
The operation also intercepted two human-smuggling attempts, resulting in the arrest of four alleged smugglers and 17 smuggled aliens. Agents seized a firearm, 74 pounds of methamphetamine, and 169 pounds of marijuana.
That's all well and good, but it only addresses the symptoms. Here's the real problem:
The arrests come amid increased federal scrutiny of state commercial licensing programs for foreign nationals and follow an August report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) examining the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs nationwide.
FAIR reported that California issued more than 128,000 non-domiciled CDLs between January 2022 and September 2025, more than doubling the state’s annual issuance during that period, and that in 2025 at least 17 fatal crashes involving foreign national CDL holders cost more than 30 Americans their lives.
A non-domiciled CDL is a separate category of commercial license available under federal law to certain foreign nationals and is not synonymous with a license issued to an illegal alien. Under current federal regulations, foreign-domiciled applicants for a non-domiciled CDL must be lawfully present in the United States under specified employment-based nonimmigrant visa categories.
FAIR’s report found California allowed CDL knowledge examinations in Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi, Russian, and Spanish. According to data cited in the organization’s 31-page investigative report, first-attempt pass rates were 22 percent for applicants taking the test in Arabic and 26 percent for Punjabi, compared with 63 percent for applicants testing in English.
So, a couple of things here:
California has issued over a hundred thousand "non-domiciled" applicants. These are not all necessarily illegal aliens, but as we've reported here at RedState, it sure seems like a good number of them are; there seems to have been a cottage industry sprung up for truck-driving schools specifically seeking illegal aliens as pupils. Add to that the obvious problems of administering driver's tests in Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi, Russian and Spanish, and the question becomes "why?" In what way does the United States or, for that matter, the state of California, gain from issuing licenses to drive these massive 18-wheelers to people who apparently neither speak nor read English?
We've seen the results of that too often.
These "sanctuary" states are now the targets of federal crackdowns on the issue of CDLs. This is actually an appropriate matter for the federal government to be involved in; these trucks and their drivers are engaged in the very definition of interstate commerce, and they are a clear and present danger on America's highways.
There's a lot of work yet to be done to resolve this. For now, though, we'll count these busts in the Yuma area as a win.
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.