An undocumented immigrant who was found driving in Florida with a New Jersey issued commercial driver’s license will face deportation as part of the state’s new commercial driver crackdown, officials said this week.
Roberto Carlos Vergara Cervantes, of Ecuador, was arrested after he was stopped and found to be driving a commercial vehicle in Bay County, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said at a press conference on Sunday.
In a statement released this week, Uthmeier said out-of-state commercial driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants are not valid for those operating a commercial vehicle in Florida. Cervantes was taken into custody by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and is now on ICE hold, Uthmeier said.
“There’s no telling how many illegal aliens are in this country driving large commercial vehicles and putting American families at a safety risk every day,” Uthmeier said at the press conference. “We have got to protect our American citizens from the dangers of the open border crisis and illegal aliens that may be engaging in behavior that injures people.”
Gov. Phil Murphy’s Office and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment regarding Cervantes.
Earlier this month, a triple fatal crash involving a tractor trailer driven by an undocumented immigrant prompted a new policy enforcing inspections of commercial vehicles by Florida officials.
“If states had followed the rules, this driver would never have been behind the wheel and three precious lives would still be with us,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement following the crash. “This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures.”
Under Florida’s new enforcement policy, officers will be stationed at the state’s 23 agricultural inspection stations and will detain anyone who is an undocumented immigrant. There are also plans to install X-ray machines to inspect the interiors of trucks as they enter the inspection station.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at [email protected].
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