Kristi Noem announced one staggering number about illegal semi-truck drivers that left sanctuary states in full panic mode
Sanctuary cities just got hit with devastating news.
The numbers are worse than anyone imagined.
And Kristi Noem announced one staggering number about illegal semi-truck drivers that left sanctuary states in full panic mode.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem dropped a bombshell Thursday that exposed just how badly sanctuary states have been gambling with American lives.
Federal and local authorities arrested 223 illegal immigrants during a law enforcement operation in Indiana – including 146 semi-truck drivers who never should have been behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler.¹
Noem announced the shocking arrest numbers during a news conference in Gary, Indiana, where she made clear these drivers were endangering every American on the road.
"If you are here driving on our streets and highways illegally, you are endangering our citizens, and your days are numbered," Noem declared.²
The scale of arrests revealed something sanctuary states hoped Americans would never discover.
"Too many families across this country have felt pain, been victimized, and lost loved ones because of these illegal drivers," Noem added.³
California and Illinois caught red-handed flooding highways with dangerous drivers
The arrest numbers exposed which states have been handing out commercial licenses to illegal immigrants.
Most of the 146 illegal immigrant drivers caught in the operation received their Commercial Driver's Licenses from California, Illinois, and New York – all sanctuary jurisdictions that deliberately undermined federal immigration law.⁴
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, revealed the criminal histories of these drivers that should terrify every American sharing the road with them.
The rap sheets include drug trafficking, assault and battery, drunk driving, child abuse, rape, domestic violence, fraud, and prostitution.⁵
"We don't want any of these individuals on our roads or in our communities, and we especially don't want them behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler when they can't speak our language, don't understand our laws, can't follow roadway signs, and can't interact with law enforcement or our citizens," Noem stated.⁶
The arrests came as part of Operation Midway Blitz, launched in honor of Katie Abraham, who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run allegedly caused by Julio Cucul-Bol, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala.⁷
Abraham's death represents just one of hundreds of preventable tragedies caused by sanctuary state policies that put politics over public safety.
Bodies pile up while sanctuary states hand out licenses to illegal immigrants
The massive arrest numbers confirm what conservatives have been warning about for years.
In August, Harjinder Singh – an illegal immigrant who entered through Mexico in 2018 – caused a fatal Florida crash that killed three people after making an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike.⁸
Singh failed his CDL written exam 10 times and couldn't pass English language proficiency tests, yet Washington state issued him a full-term commercial license in 2023, and California gave him another one in 2024.⁹
After the crash, Singh couldn't answer basic questions in English, getting just 2 out of 12 verbal questions correct and identifying only 1 out of 4 highway traffic signs.¹⁰
In October, another illegal immigrant truck driver, 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh from India, allegedly drove a semi-truck while under the influence and caused a multi-car pileup on a California freeway that killed three people.¹¹
Federal officials had warned California in September about "significant compliance failures" in the state's licensing process, but California officials upgraded Jashanpreet Singh's license anyway on October 15 – just six days before the deadly crash.¹²
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that large truck crashes killed 5,700 people in 2023, with 15% of fatal crashes involving drivers with language barriers or inadequate training – that's 814 preventable deaths every single year.¹³
Indiana State Police Secretary Anthony Scott cut through the political noise to explain what's really at stake.
"This is not about immigration status alone. It's about public safety. And 80,000-pound trucks in untrained hands are a dangerous thing," Scott said.¹⁴
The Trump administration moved decisively to stop the carnage sanctuary states enabled.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy implemented emergency restrictions in September limiting who can obtain non-domiciled commercial licenses, requiring employment-based visas and mandatory federal immigration status checks.¹⁵
But Thursday's announcement revealed the problem runs far deeper than anyone knew.
ICE previously revealed that during a three-day operation in Oklahoma in September, agents arrested 91 illegal immigrant truck drivers along Interstate 40.¹⁶
Of those arrested with CDLs, nearly two-thirds received their licenses from California or New York.¹⁷
One illegal immigrant from India had a New York CDL listing his name as "No Name Given" – a stunning example of how sanctuary states completely abandoned any pretense of following the law.¹⁸
Lyons blasted sanctuary jurisdictions for gambling with American lives.
"It's unconscionable that illegal aliens have CDLs and are driving 18-wheelers across our nation," Lyons stated. "Just because some sanctuary cities want to gamble with motorists' lives and let these dangerous people on the roads driving dangerous vehicles."¹⁹
Noem revealed the Indiana arrests are just the beginning.
A similar operation in Oklahoma has already resulted in the arrest of more than 250 illegal immigrant truck drivers.²⁰
The 223 arrests in Indiana prove sanctuary states created a public safety disaster that's been hiding in plain sight on America's highways.
¹ Louis Casiano, "146 illegal immigrant truck drivers arrested in Indiana crackdown, as Noem says, 'Your days are numbered'," Fox News, October 30, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ "How Illegal Immigrant Truck Drivers Ended Up On America's Roads," Daily Wire, October 30, 2025.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ "Deadly crash in California renews federal criticism of immigrant truck drivers," PBS News, October 25, 2025.
¹² "How Illegal Immigrant Truck Drivers Ended Up On America's Roads," Daily Wire, October 30, 2025.
¹³ "Death on the Roads: How Undocumented Immigrants in Trucking Endanger American Truckers and Families in 2025," White-Collar Workers of America, April 1, 2025.
¹⁴ Louis Casiano, "146 illegal immigrant truck drivers arrested in Indiana crackdown, as Noem says, 'Your days are numbered'," Fox News, October 30, 2025.
¹⁵ "Kristi Noem says 'days are numbered' for illegal migrant drivers during press conference," The National News Desk, October 30, 2025.
¹⁶ "How Illegal Immigrant Truck Drivers Ended Up On America's Roads," Daily Wire, October 30, 2025.
¹⁷ "ICE Op: Two-Thirds of Nabbed Illegal Aliens' CDLs Were Issued by Two Sanctuary States," Newsbusters, October 15, 2025.
¹⁸ "CDL sanctuary states," American Thinker, October 2025.
¹⁹ Louis Casiano, "146 illegal immigrant truck drivers arrested in Indiana crackdown, as Noem says, 'Your days are numbered'," Fox News, October 30, 2025.
²⁰ Ibid.
