(SEQUOYAH COUNTY) Oklahoma authorities arrested 73 people for immigration violations during a 15-hour highway sweep along Interstate 40 near the Arkansas border last week, the latest escalation in statewide highway immigration enforcement that focused heavily on commercial trucking. Led by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the operation — known as Operation Guardian — stopped more than 500 vehicles and resulted in 34 arrests of commercial vehicle drivers, according to officials.
State leaders framed the arrests as a road safety push and a test of new powers granted to troopers under a federal partnership.
“Dozens of people from across the world were arrested, accused of being here illegally and driving commercial vehicles,” said Tim Tipton, Oklahoma Department of Public Safety commissioner. Tipton, who described the sweep as a “mass arrest,” said detainees included nationals of Tajikistan, India, El Salvador, Uzbekistan, Georgia, China, Pakistan, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Cuba, Guatemala, Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, and Mexico.
He added, “We feel it’s critical here in Oklahoma to take this type of enforcement action. And our partnership with ICE has been very productive.”
Dozens of 18-wheelers were towed to local impound yards and are awaiting pickup by their owners after drivers were taken into custody, authorities said. All detainees were taken to an ICE facility in Tulsa for processing following the Sequoyah County operation, which unfolded over a single day along one of the state’s busiest freight corridors. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the sweep drew on newly expanded authority under the federal 287(g) program, which deputizes state and local officers to carry out certain federal immigration tasks under ICE oversight.
The impact rippled quickly through the county. The Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office said it fielded “a lot of phone calls from friends and family, trying to find out more information about those who were detained,” while noting it was not part of the enforcement action. Local deputies did not participate in the traffic stops or arrests, but the office spent hours responding to inquiries as trucks were impounded and drivers were transferred to federal custody.
Governor Kevin Stitt backed the strategy and said more sweeps are coming.
“There will be no haven for illegal immigrants who break our laws. We will uphold Oklahoma’s strong tradition of being a law & order state.”
State officials have tied Operation Guardian to two goals: reducing taxpayer costs tied to housing undocumented inmates and improving highway safety by checking the legal status of commercial drivers operating heavy trucks on major routes.
The latest arrests follow a similar Operation Guardian sweep on I-40 in western Oklahoma in September 2025, when officers reported 120 arrests, including 91 commercial drivers. State officials said the Sequoyah County operation marked the second large-scale, I-40-focused action in recent weeks and part of a broader expansion from earlier phases that initially focused on prisons and later moved to highways and ports of entry. The program began in late 2024 under Governor Stitt and has steadily widened its scope.
ICE leadership has endorsed the focus on trucking. After a previous sweep, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said,
“Illegal aliens have no business operating 18 wheelers on America’s highways. Our roads are now safer with these illegal aliens no longer behind the wheel.”
Oklahoma officials echoed that message this week, saying the discovery of dozens of out-of-status drivers behind the wheel of commercial vehicles reinforced the need for concentrated checks on high-traffic freight corridors such as I-40.
State officials say their growing cooperation with ICE is possible because of an expanded 287(g) program agreement announced in February 2025 that now authorizes all 750 Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers to detain, question, and process undocumented immigrants under federal supervision. The agreement extends federal immigration authority to troopers during stops that begin as traffic or commercial vehicle inspections, a power shift that Oklahoma leaders say allows them to move quickly when they encounter suspected immigration violations on the roadside. ICE’s 287(g) program, detailed on the ICE 287(g) program page, places trained state officers under direct federal oversight for immigration enforcement tasks.
Tipton said the Sequoyah County sweep drew people “from across the world,” a point underscored by the list of 15 countries he provided, ranging from Central and South America to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Oklahoma authorities did not provide names of those arrested but emphasized that the commercial drivers among them were operating heavy trucks along I-40, which carries a high share of cross-country freight. With dozens of 18-wheelers impounded, trucking firms or vehicle owners must arrange retrieval at local yards, a process that can take days while federal processing continues in Tulsa.
The numbers underscore the scale of the operation. Over a 15-hour stretch, troopers and federal agents stopped more than 500 vehicles, a pace of more than 30 stops per hour, officials said. The focus on commercial traffic aligns with Operation Guardian’s stated safety aims, with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol saying the combination of roadside inspections and immigration checks can identify drivers who lack the required legal status to hold the wheel of a semi-truck. In practice, that has meant coordinated teams of troopers and ICE officers working shoulder-to-shoulder at highway chokepoints, pulling in trucks and passenger vehicles, running identity checks, confirming legal status, and arranging immediate transfer to ICE when violations are found.
The sheriff’s office in Sequoyah County, which said it was not part of the enforcement action, became a point of contact for families searching for answers as news of the sweep spread. Officials there said they could not provide details on individual detainees, a function that falls to federal authorities once transfers to ICE occur. Families often first learn of an impound when a driver fails to arrive or when a company is notified that a truck has been towed, prompting calls to county offices and local impound yards.
Oklahoma’s push has drawn on a narrative of both cost control and safety. State officials say efforts that started with identifying undocumented individuals inside prisons and jails have moved onto the road network to stem what they describe as risks posed by unlicensed or out-of-status commercial drivers. Supporters argue that quick roadside processing through 287(g) allows the state to limit jail stays and shift custody to federal authorities immediately, which they say reduces county detention costs. Tipton’s description of the latest sweep as a “mass arrest” reflects that scale, with 73 people taken into custody and transferred to ICE in a single day.
The twin sweeps on I-40 in recent weeks have set expectations for continued highway immigration enforcement along major freight routes, and officials signaled more such operations are on the way. Operation Guardian’s widening scope since late 2024 has already moved from prisons to patrol stops and checkpoints, with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol treating interstate corridors as pressure points where troopers can exert the most influence over who is allowed to drive heavy trucks through the state. Stitt’s insistence that “There will be no haven for illegal immigrants who break our laws” captures the political backing for frequent, high-visibility operations.
Authorities offered few logistical details about how the latest sweep was structured beyond confirming the 15-hour window and volume of vehicle stops. But the immediate consequences were visible in Sequoyah County: commercial rigs lined up for towing, companies scrambling to dispatch relief drivers, and local impound lots handling an influx of tractor-trailers. For the arrested drivers and passengers, the overnight shift from a traffic stop to federal custody meant rapid transfer to Tulsa, where ICE processing begins. Sheahan’s earlier statement —
“Illegal aliens have no business operating 18 wheelers on America’s highways. Our roads are now safer with these illegal aliens no longer behind the wheel.” —
was cited again by state officials as they emphasized the safety framing.
Officials did not specify the timeline for federal proceedings following transfer to the Tulsa facility. Under the 287(g) framework, troopers use federal training and oversight to question individuals about immigration status, lodge detainers when warranted, and hand off cases to ICE. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says arrestees in this latest sweep came from at least 15 countries, a mix that tracks with the multi-country list Tipton provided, and reflects the national and international flow of drivers and travelers using I-40. The agency’s message was that the rules apply equally to everyone on the road, regardless of origin, with commercial drivers treated as a priority given the size and weight of their vehicles.
With Operation Guardian now firmly established on the interstate system, trucking companies and drivers moving through eastern Oklahoma can expect stepped-up checks at and around the Arkansas line. For Sequoyah County residents, the most immediate signs of the sweep were the flashing lights on I-40, the rows of towed rigs at local yards, and a sheriff’s office switchboard lighting up with calls. For state leaders, the numbers — 73 arrests, 34 commercial drivers, more than 500 vehicles stopped — are evidence of what they consider a productive partnership with federal authorities and a model for future highway operations.
“We feel it’s critical here in Oklahoma to take this type of enforcement action. And our partnership with ICE has been very productive,” Tipton said, repeating the justification that has become the through-line of Oklahoma’s approach to highway immigration enforcement.
This Article in a Nutshell
Oklahoma’s Operation Guardian conducted a 15-hour sweep on I-40 near the Arkansas line, stopping over 500 vehicles and arresting 73 people for immigration violations, including 34 commercial drivers. The operation, led by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol with ICE under an expanded 287(g) agreement announced in February 2025, towed dozens of 18-wheelers and transferred detainees to a Tulsa ICE facility. Officials framed the action as a road safety and cost-control measure and said more sweeps are expected.
