The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, working with ICE agents, arrested 120 illegal immigrants during an operation at a port of entry near the Texas border.
The plan, dubbed Operation Guardian, was a comprehensive deportation effort launched by Gov. Kevin Stitt in coordination with Oklahoma’s Department of Public Safety.
The sting took place along Interstate 40, where officials found most offenders with unverifiable licenses behind the wheels of 80,000-pound 18-wheelers.
During the operation, troopers encountered more than 500 people and turned 120 over to ICE, according to officials.
Oklahoma’s Operation Guardian plan states that the state currently houses about 525 undocumented offenders in its prisons, costing $36,000 per day.
The plan alleges that 30% of those crimes are violent offenses against children, 20% violent assaults, 14% homicides or other violent deaths, and 7% sex crimes. It notes that most offenders are from Mexico (72%), followed by Guatemala, Honduras, and Vietnam.