In what appears to be a seemingly endless streak of US immigration authorities red-flagging Indian-origin truck drivers, another such individual without legal status in the country is set to be processed for deportation.

Issuing a public notice this week, the US Border Patrol Yuma Sector (Arizona) announced that Quartzsite Police pulled over a man after he allegedly ran a red light and a stop sign. The individual has since been identified as Sukhdeep Singh, an Indian national residing in the United States illegally.

Singh’s nationality as an Indian was confirmed after Quartzsite officers contacted Blythe Station Border Patrol agents.

Despite his undocumented status in the country, a California commercial driver’s license was found in his possession, as US authorities detained him. “Singh will be processed for deportation under 8 USC 1182,” the US Border Patrol declared in a Facebook post shared yesterday.

The authorities also attached a photo of Singh and his California commercial driver license to the social media post, widely publicising the arrest of the illegal immigrant.

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Border Patrol’s crackdown of illegal Indian truck drivers with California licenses  

Sukhdeep Singh’s case only further amplifies the severe scrutiny surrounding truck drivers in possession of a California commercial driver license. Just over a week ago, Yuma Sector’s official Border Patrol social media account had announced that Blythe Station agents’ efforts to enforce the law resulted in six “illegal aliens from India” being arrested.

Border Patrol further disclosed that in each case, the truck driver had a commercial driver license despite lacking documented status in the US. “All were processed for deportation, forfeiting their chance to legally re-enter the US,” the Yuma Sector officials announced via X.

The post also reminded those facing deportation that voluntary departure from the US was also an option through the CBP Home app. Authorities emphasised that self-deportation through the government app provided the opportunity to re-enter the US legally down the line.

Never-ending California commercial driver license controversy

The Trump administration continues to be at war with the team of California Governor Gavin Newsom over this all-consuming controversy surrounding the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses in the state. The issue particularly ballooned into a tedious and contentious affair after Harjinder Singh, a native of India, tried to make an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, thereby killing three passengers of a minivan.

The man in question was eventually found to have entered the US illegally via the Mexico border in 2018. The matter became even more pressing when the Department of Homeland Security revealed that Harjinder had obtained a commercial driver’s licence in California despite failing an English Language Proficiency assessment.

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Harjinder’s case, in turn, fuelled a snowball effect, as more and more similar cases related to Indian-origin truck drivers, who had been in the US illegally came to light in the worst ways possible. In November 2025, the US Department of Transportation issued a scathing news release titled “NEWSOM CAUGHT REDHANDED.”

Therein, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy exposed the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMC) of admitting to illegally issuing 17,000 non-domiciles commercial driver’s licenses to “dangerous foreign drivers.” Consequently, the Trump administration announced that it would be revoking all such licenses.

Doubling down on its plan of action against Newsom’s state, Duffy announced earlier this month that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would be stripping California of $160 million in safety program money. The sweeping blow was spurred by the state’s failure to meet a January 5 deadline to cancel the aforementioned 17,000+ commercial driver’s licenses.