INDIO - 87 drivers with commercial licenses have been arrested over the past few weeks in the two immigration enforcement operations focused on Southern California.

The operations were conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.

Border Patrol agents announced the arrests on Friday (December 19th), a little more than a month after news outlets reported California would be revoking 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants after finding the licenses’ expiration dates extended beyond the drivers’ legal stay in the U.S. Between Nov. 23 and Dec. 12th.

Agents assigned to the Indio station arrested 42 commercial drivers operating semi-trucks on interstate highways or passing through immigration checkpoints on Highway 86 and Highway 111, according to a Border Patrol release.

Of the 42 arrested in the Indio area of Riverside County, 30 were from India, two from El Salvador, and the remainder from China, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Border Patrol officials said 31 drivers held California-issued licenses. The rest were issued in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Story Date: January 11, 2026