At least 63 commercial truck drivers were stopped by police, turned over to federal immigration agents and later held in Kentucky jails between November 2025 and July, according to a review by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, published by LPM. Nearly all of the arrests took place in Indiana, and the Indiana State Police was responsible for more than 75% of them.
One of those drivers, Gurpreet Singh, was heading north on Interstate 69 near Muncie, Indiana, in June when a tire blew out and his semi veered off the road. After he received stitches at a hospital, state police arrested him there on immigration grounds. Federal agents then moved him to the Daviess County jail in western Kentucky. A federal judge released him in July. He told the reporting team that authorities had taken the backpack holding his immigration papers and other key documents, leaving him unable to return to work.
The findings draw on more than 400 habeas corpus petitions filed by immigrants in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, along with federal arrest forms where available. Many immigration arrest records are not public, so the reporters say the total is likely higher than the 63 they documented.
More than half of the arrests occurred at weigh stations or roadside inspections, routine parts of trucking that drivers often cannot avoid. Three followed accidents, nine followed alleged traffic violations, and in 14 cases the records did not clearly state why police made the stop. Police charged at least 10 of the drivers with offenses ranging from speeding to commercial vehicle violations such as falsified logbooks and lacking a medical certificate.
Kentucky agencies were also involved. Court records show the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, which participates in the federal 287(g) program, helped arrest two Tajikistani brothers at a weigh station in Kuttawa during a joint operation with ICE in July. In Indiana, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, which has not joined 287(g), arrested a driver who was later taken into federal custody after three weeks in jail.
Indiana State Police public information officer Sgt. Jeremy Piers said the agency is not targeting immigrant truck drivers for ICE and that its commercial vehicle inspections are a longstanding priority. Piers said trooper immigration authority under 287(g) is simply another enforcement tool for those who have been trained. The reporters said they asked the agency in September for data on 287(g) arrests, including those at weigh stations, and have not received a reply.
The state’s role has drawn attention before. In October 2025, the Department of Homeland Security announced 223 immigration arrests in Indiana, including 146 drivers, under a 287(g) agreement with the state police. Federal officials also described a multistate sweep called Operation Highway Shield in July that they said detained 51 people.
Immigration attorney Laxman Adhikari, who represented Singh, said Punjabi drivers, many of whom wear turbans, now fear being racially profiled even when they have done nothing wrong. Attorney Vano Haroutunian estimated that about half of the roughly 200 habeas petitions he filed nationwide this year involved truck drivers, many detained in Indiana.
Gary Langston, president of the Indiana Motor Truck Association, praised the federal push to enforce commercial trucking standards and said it could benefit qualified drivers by reducing competition from unqualified ones.
Sources
- KY Center for Investigative Reporting
- Indian Capital Chronicle report on DHS announcement of Indiana State Police 287(g) arrests
- U.S. Department of Transportation, Operation Highway Shield
- Brennan Center explainer on habeas corpus
This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) based on source material from KY Center for Investigative Reporting, enriched with 1 web search. The original source is available at https://www.lpm.org/investigate/2026-10-13/indiana-state-police-help-drive-trumps-crackdown-on-immigrant-truckers-records-show.
