Oklahoma's Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton says commercial truckers are getting savvy to Oklahoma Highway Patrol operations targeting people in the country without legal permission.
When OHP units appeared near Oklahoma ports of entry during past operations, Tipton said truckers worked together across state lines to avoid them.
"Our intel analysts would immediately start seeing social media posts and things like that from the East and West Coast, telling each other that, 'Hey, Oklahoma is back at it again,'" Tipton said. "You know, 'Divert go around Oklahoma.'"
So, in preparation for the latest sting, Tipton said he reached out to 14 nearby states for support in tracking, funneling and targeting suspected immigrant truckers – and non-commercial drivers too.
The result, he said, was a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) powered, Oklahoma-led "first-of-its-kind, multi-state partnership that made it much harder for individuals to evade detection" by avoiding the state.
While the operation's exact dates weren't shared with the public during the press conference, Tipton called the 72-hour job a success for Oklahoma state troopers and their partners.
"Over 230 illegal immigrants were taken into custody," he said. "Over 40 of those were driving commercial motor vehicles."
A full list of participating states was also left out during the press conference, but Tipton said the following were involved:
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- South Dakota
- North Dakota
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Florida
- Texas
- Missouri
The Oklahoma Public Safety Department, which oversees the state highway patrol, did not immediately respond to KOSU's inquiries for clarification.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who hosted the press conference at a facility owned by the Tulsa-based company Melton Trucking Lines, praised Tipton and Oklahoma law enforcement for their leadership, saying they "bat way above their weight," especially when it comes to partnerships with ICE.
Oklahoma has been hyper-active in partnering with ICE since President Trump took office last year.
The latest federal data shows Oklahoma law enforcement agencies have entered into 136 partnerships with ICE known as 287(g) agreements as of October this year, allowing their officers to be deputized with various immigration enforcement powers. Of those agreements, 109 were signed in 2026.
Also at the press conference was senior ICE official Russell Hott, who oversees the agency's 287(g) partnerships. He too commended Oklahoma's immigration enforcement efforts, specifically around targeting commercial truck drivers, which has become the focus of Operation Guardian over the last year.
"Between January 2025 and October 31st, 2025, ICE conducted over 4,800 CDL (commercial driver's license) operations, resulting in the arrest of 1,243 CDL holders during the same time frame," Hott said. "ICE arrested over 710 CDL individuals in Oklahoma alone."