Overview
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the arrests at a news conference in Gary, Indiana, saying the actions targeted illegal migrant drivers through Operation Midway Blitz.
- Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said many of the 146 arrested truck drivers have prior criminal histories that include offenses such as DUI, assault and drug trafficking.
- Noem said numerous arrestees held commercial licenses from over a dozen states, with many traced to California, Illinois and New York.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed to an emergency DOT action that now limits non-domiciled commercial permits to holders of employment-based visas with mandatory SAVE status checks.
- Noem said the multistate campaign launched last month in honor of Katie Abraham and reported more than 250 truck-driver arrests in a similar operation in Oklahoma.