California Truck Checkpoints Target Cabotage and English Proficiency Violations

Truckers accused of violating cabotage and English-language requirements were among 57 commercial vehicle drivers cited near the Mexican border during recent multiagency enforcement operations in California. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the joint operations took place at a California state Route 86 checkpoint during August and September. Nearly 200 commercial motor vehicle drivers were pulled over by Department of Transportation inspectors, Border Patrol agents from the Indio Station, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators. Earlier this year, the DOT and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration joined a White House multiagency fraud task force aimed at coordinating federal enforcement efforts to remove bad actors engaged in trucking fraud and prosecute offenders through the Department of Justice. Since then, Homeland Security Investigations and CBP have participated in enforcement operations nationwide targeting unsafe drivers and violations of cabotage laws and truck driver training requirements. The recent enforcement operations targeted truckers for immigration, transportation and roadway safety violations, according to CBP. Inspectors checked 196 drivers and cited 57 of them for violations including failure to meet English-language proficiency, hours-of-service logbook discrepancies and vehicle equipment problems. Nearly 30 drivers were placed out of service. Agents identified two commercial motor vehicle drivers with alleged cabotage violations for engaging in prohibited shipping activity while traveling on temporary visitor visas. One driver was processed for the violation, while the other returned voluntarily and had his Border Crossing Card revoked, according to CBP. State Route 86 is a major freight route linking the Imperial and Coachella valleys with Interstate 10 in Indio and the Calexico West Port of Entry at the Mexican border via state Route 111. Another driver arrested was a Haitian national whose temporary protected status was revoked; agents transferred that driver to ICE for processing by Enforcement and Removal Operations. Agents also arrested a U.S. citizen truck driver with an active, extraditable Texas warrant for a parole violation, transferring him to the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office for extradition. These coordinated enforcement operations targeting truckers hauling freight on state Route 86 about 5 miles north of the Mexican border are similar to two CBP operations in November and December 2025, when Indio Station agents stopped truckers on state Routes 86 and 111. During those operations, Border Patrol agents arrested 49 undocumented immigrants holding commercial driver licenses who were driving through immigration checkpoints. Those drivers were nationals of China, El Salvador, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, India, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Turkey and Ukraine. According to CBP, 31 drivers held California CDLs, while others held licenses issued by Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington. In addition, Indio Station agents participated in a joint immigration and safety enforcement operation called Operation Highway Sentinel on Dec. 10-11, 2025, that targeted commercial trucking companies in California and resulted in 45 arrests of CDL holders.