ICE has announced arrests at New Jersey travel stops and a New Hampshire commercial-vehicle inspection station, placing a sharper focus on immigration enforcement involving commercial drivers. One of the men arrested had a prior driving-while-intoxicated conviction, according to the agency.
The cases come as federal authorities expand enforcement activity around weigh stations and inspection checkpoints. An Aug. 31 announcement from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Department of Homeland Security outlined operations involving immigration officers, transportation inspectors and state police.
ICE Newark officers arrested two Uzbek citizens on Aug. 23 during separate targeted enforcement actions, according to the agency. Zokhid Zakhidov, 37, was taken into custody in Woodbridge, New Jersey, while the second man, identified as Khayrullo Payzullaev, 30, was arrested in Hamilton, New Jersey. Officials described both men as unlawfully present in the United States.
According to ICE, Zakhidov held a New York commercial learner’s permit. His record included a May 15 conviction in New York for driving while intoxicated. Authorities also cited pending charges dating from Jan. 26 for assault with intent to cause physical injury and harassment.
Cranbury, New Jersey, police arrested Zakhidov on April 28 as a fugitive from justice, according to the federal announcement. He remains in federal immigration custody while removal proceedings continue.
Payzullaev held a Pennsylvania non-domiciled commercial driver’s license, ICE said. A Philadelphia immigration judge ordered his detention on July 21, according to the agency. He also remains in ICE custody pending removal.
The enforcement activity continued in New Hampshire. ICE Boston reported the arrest of Satvir Singh on Sept. 11 during targeted operations in Hillsborough.
Officers encountered Singh, an Indian national, at a commercial-vehicle inspection station, according to the agency. ICE described him as an interstate truck driver and said he had entered the United States legally in 2017 before later violating the terms of his admission.
Federal plans identify weigh stations
The Aug. 31 federal announcement identified weigh stations as part of planned and ongoing Enforcement and Removal Operations activity.
The document said ICE’s Chicago field office coordinated an operation with Indiana State Police from Aug. 25 through Aug. 27, with a focus on weigh stations. It also outlined an enforcement surge targeting Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin. Under that initiative, immigration officers would work alongside FMCSA-certified inspectors at commercial-vehicle enforcement and inspection checkpoints.
Federal officials also named three enforcement efforts specifically involving the trucking sector.
Operation ICE Wall targets companies and drivers with final removal orders, previous removals or reinstated removal orders.
Guardrail focuses on people holding commercial driver’s licenses whom ICE identifies as being unlawfully present in the United States.
Freightliner involves coordination among federal agencies and 287(g) partners to identify individuals operating commercial vehicles in violation of the law.
Thousands of licenses under scrutiny
The federal focus extends beyond immigration enforcement. A July 16 DOT-DHS announcement described a joint effort to investigate suspected fraud involving approximately 75 entry-level driver-training schools.
FMCSA said it had identified concerns over improper certifications and falsified records. Investigators also suspected that some providers had failed to properly train applicants seeking commercial licenses. Homeland Security Investigations was set to support the transportation agency in those cases.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy cited several enforcement figures in the July announcement.
He said more than 24,000 drivers had been removed from service for failing to meet English-language requirements. He also pointed to state cancellations involving more than 28,000 licenses that authorities said had been illegally issued to foreign applicants.
Duffy additionally cited FMCSA’s removal of more than 9,500 unqualified schools from its training-provider registry.
The federal announcements bring together two distinct areas of enforcement: immigration actions involving commercial drivers and investigations into commercial licensing practices. However, the statements currently available do not establish that any of the three men arrested in New Jersey and New Hampshire were involved in licensing fraud.
They also do not confirm a direct connection between those arrests and the investigations involving driver-training schools. Additional confirmation from ICE would be required before tying an individual encounter to one of the named operations.
Why it matters
Truck stops and commercial-vehicle inspection stations are increasingly appearing in the footprint of immigration enforcement activity.
For motor carriers, verifying that a driver holds a valid commercial license is only one part of the compliance picture. The recent federal actions illustrate how inspections involving commercial vehicles can intersect with broader immigration enforcement, while separate investigations continue to examine how commercial licenses are issued and whether applicants and training providers have met federal and state requirements.
