States Deepened ICE Ties in 2025 as Trucking Rules Tightened
Residency Status, English Proficiency Key Areas of Nationwide Focus
Key Takeaways:
- States in 2025 began partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to intensify roadway enforcement targeting foreign truck drivers who violate licensing, immigration or English-language proficiency rules.
- The push follows President Donald Trump’s April 28 executive order, championed by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, tightening ELP standards, reviewing non-domiciled CDLs and mandating tougher out-of-service criteria.
- Early operations, including a Wyoming sting and Mississippi referrals, have sidelined dozens of drivers, with officials signaling more joint enforcement and possible congressional action ahead.
[Stay on top of transportation news: .]
Increased federal scrutiny of states’ enforcement efforts of commercial driver licensing laws and English-language proficiency standards compelled state police agencies in 2025 to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on roadway dragnets intended to intercept drivers who run afoul of these laws.
The sweeping crackdown, led by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, has shifted the law enforcement backdrop for foreign truckers — particularly when it comes to issuance of commercial driver licenses and permits to individuals who don’t maintain a permanent U.S. residence.
The qualifications of foreign truck drivers became a focal point for Duffy and President Donald Trump after the president on April 28 issued an executive order called “.”
The April order reinforced a March executive order designating English as the official U.S. national language. Trump described English communication skills as “a nonnegotiable safety requirement for professional drivers,” and said commercial drivers “should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints and cargo weight-limit station officers. Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English. This is common sense.”
(Bloomberg)
The order set a 60-day deadline for DOT to undertake a , including:
- Rescind past guidance “that watered down the law” requiring ELP for commercial drivers.
- Revise out-of-service criteria to ensure drivers violating English-language proficiency regulations are removed from the road.
- Review states’ issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to identify irregularities and ensure truckers are sufficiently qualified and hold valid licenses.
- Improve overall working conditions for American truckers.
ICE Partnership Program
Amid this crackdown, states are forming new types of partnerships with ICE under the agency’s 287(g) program. This program expands local- and state-level police capabilities for enforcement of violations of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations as well as other state and federal violations. In the past, this type of enforcement has generally been handled by state highway patrol officers trained under the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance program.
The federal authority to state and local law enforcement officers for specific immigration functions. Specifically, police agencies in the program can patrol roadways and interstates for enforcement action on immigration violations or other offenses, and when warranted process individuals for deportation. It also provides agreements with Indian tribes to carry out immigration enforcement.
The program enables four types of model partnerships with ICE:
- Jail Enforcement — to identify and process foreigners lacking legal residential status in the U.S. who have criminal or pending criminal charges after they are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies.
- Task Force Model — to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during routine police duties.
- Tribal Task Force Model — to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight.
- Warrant Service Officer — to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants in their jails on foreigners living in the U.S. without legal permission.
(U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Transport Topics)
States that have publicly partnered with ICE include Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, New York, Alabama, Mississippi and Wyoming. Most of the ICE partnerships to remove foreign truckers are the Task Force Model.
Wyoming Operation Targets Country Roads
A recent Wyoming sting spearheaded by the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office in an ICE partnership demonstrates the widespread reach and capabilities that states now have to remove from the road foreign truckers arrested for immigration violations.
Sheriff Brian Kozak released a social media video in late November detailing a three-day “Operation Safe Haul” with ICE and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The effort targeted undocumented truckers traveling on country roads to avoid interstates across Laramie County. Deputies and others conducted 195 traffic stops and 133 commercial vehicle inspections that led to 44 trucks and 38 drivers being placed out of service.
(Laramie County Sheriff's Office via Facebook)
“Our focus was to apprehend undocumented drivers which tarnished the good reputation of professional commercial drivers who keep America moving,” Kozak said. “As a result, 40 criminal aliens are in custody and awaiting ICE removal. One had been convicted of a sexual assault and had been previously deported twice. Another had a DUI conviction, larceny convictions and been deported previously five times. This collaborative effort underscores our dedication to protecting the motoring public and supporting lawful commerce. I want to thank those truck drivers who do it the right way.”
Mississippi’s Cross-Border Enforcement
Mississippi is among a handful of states that don’t issue non-domiciled CDLs. Yet truckers holding licenses from other states are encountering problems when traveling through Mississippi.
“While some states look the other way, my home state of Mississippi has tried to rein in this abuse in the trucking industry. Mississippi has taken decisive action and, in just the last three months alone, has identified 85 illegal drivers and referred them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith . “The state of Mississippi does not issue non-domiciled licenses and strictly enforces English-language proficiency testing to keep our roads safe. My state is doing its part, but states cannot do this alone. The federal government must close these loopholes and enforce the law.”
Hyde-Smith, chair of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, urged Congress to pass ELP legislation.
“Needless to say, seeing ICE and state law enforcement come together to make America’s roads safer is a ,” she said.
Duffy Targets Safety, Not Politics
Since taking on his role, Duffy has repeatedly stated that his position is to improve roadway safety, especially with big rigs.
“There’s a lot of politics in Washington, a lot of political fights, disagreements. This should not be one of them. Everyone — a Democrat, a Republican — when they get on American roadways they want to be safe. They don’t want to have unqualified commercial drivers on our roads. This is not political. If you come into the country illegally or you have a short window of time in the country, should you actually be entitled to a commercial driver license where you operate on American roadways?” Duffy stated Dec. 12. “I think the answer to that would be every American would say, ‘No. We only want the best qualified individuals operating on American roadways.’ And as a base-level set, you want to speak English because this is about the safety of all of us who travel.”
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing belowor go here for more info:
