# Truck drivers who fled Ukraine war are being jailed by ICE in Oklahoma **By:** The Oklahoman **Published:** 2026-09-13T10:17:08.641759479Z **Source:** [The Oklahoman](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/state/2026/09/13/ukraine-war-trucker-drivers-in-oklahoma-getting-jailed-by-ice/91205685007) --- Ali was hauling freight along Interstate 40, heading to California from North Carolina, when he was pulled over into a weigh station in Oklahoma. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper took his documents and asked him some questions to test his English proficiency. Ali, 26, is originally from Ukraine. He passed the test without issue, unable to answer only one question. When the officer asked about his immigration status, Ali gave him a passport, an employee authorization document and records from Border Patrol. The officer returned and told Ali he was under arrest for an immigration violation. There must have been some mistake, Ali remembers saying. He hadn't broken any laws. He was handcuffed and driven to a jail in Tulsa. “My ordinary work day had suddenly become the most frightening day of my life,” Ali said. Ali is one of dozens of Ukrainian truck drivers who have been arrested while working and traveling through Oklahoma. He is also one of hundreds who've been swept up in an immigration crackdown [under the state's Operation Guardian initiative](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/02/18/oklahoma-immigration-policy-operation-guardian-arresting-undocumented-immigrants/78968817007/) by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The partnership is one of the most active in the nation. Many of the Ukrainian truck drivers believed they had proper paperwork but have been ensnared by what advocates describe as a combination of [inconsistent immigration policy and a federal push for deportations](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2025/02/02/okc-immigrants-fear-becoming-collateral-damage-under-trump-crackdown/77980373007/). Most remain in custody at Oklahoma prisons. Their stories are coming to light as ICE operations fall under intense scrutiny nationwide, and [officials tied to Oklahoma have a central role](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2026/07/12/who-is-lance-schroyer-the-former-ohp-trooper-tapped-by-trump-to-lead-ice/90773884007/) in the leadership of the agency. While the circumstances in which the truck drivers were granted temporary residency in the U.S. are well known, their arrests are not. ![](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2026/08/18/NOKL/91357115007-tulsa-1.jpg?crop=5999,3375,x0,y312) OHP is calling on ICE to pick up Ukrainian truckers, consul says Karl Ahlgren, honorary consul of Ukraine to the state of Oklahoma, explains how OHP has called on ICE at Oklahoma weigh stations. Ali had come to the United States [as part of a humanitarian program](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/24/ukrainian-refugees-us-sponsored-americans/11280199002/) giving Ukrainians displaced from the war with Russia temporary parole and work authorization for two years. Ali delivered food in Florida until he earned his CDL and began to drive trucks. Ali and other Ukrainian truck drivers interviewed by The Oklahoman spoke on condition of being identified by their first names only for fear of retaliation from immigration officials. At the time of his December arrest, Ali had applied to renew his humanitarian parole before it expired. He instead found himself in a Tulsa holding cell alongside three dozen people, several of whom told him they were from Latin American countries and had also wound up at the jail after routine traffic stops. Authorities told Ali he would remain in custody until a court hearing. Friends connected him with an immigration attorney from Ohio. Officers presented him with self-deportation paperwork, which he refused to sign. Karl Ahlgren — honorary consul of Ukraine for the state of Oklahoma and a longtime Republican political strategist — found out about Ali’s case and intervened. Within a day of Ahlgren’s visit with Ali at the Tulsa jail, he was free to leave. Other Ukrainian truck drivers have remained in detention centers for months. Ahlgren said at least two dozen Ukrainians have been processed into ICE custody at the troubled Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing. At least five have been deported, he said. Ahlgren said the truck drivers are often told misleading information to persuade them to stay at weigh stations until ICE agents arrive and arrest them. Spokespeople for ICE and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, did not respond to requests for comment about the arrests. Spokespeople for CoreCivic, which operates the prison where many drivers are being held, deferred further requests for information to ICE. Ryan Gustin, CoreCivic's public affairs director, said that the company does not have a say in a detainee's deportation or release. Ahlgren said he has spent months trying to speak with ICE and DHS officials, including his former boss, Markwayne Mullin, who now leads the department. Ahlgren said he has heard silence since June. “It’s really unfortunate, because these guys are the sole breadwinner for their family,” Ahlgren said. “They’ve been doing this for anywhere from 18 months to two years, and all of a sudden, they’re in jail, their wives are wondering what’s happening, their children are asking, 'Where’s Daddy?'" ## Ukrainians arrested while in limbo for reauthorized humanitarian parole Eduard, who also hails from Ukraine, had been driving trucks to help support his family in New Jersey, including a younger sister with a blood disorder. He was granted temporary protected status in October 2023, an immigration designation given to people who cannot safely return to their home countries. On June 18, he was traveling along I-40 near Muldrow, headed to California, when he was stopped at a weigh station and taken into ICE custody. Nazly Mamedova, the Ohio attorney representing both Ali and Eduard, filed an emergency petition asking the Cimarron facility warden and Homeland Security officials to release Eduard. A federal judge ordered ICE to show cause for his detention. Lawyers for Homeland Security argued in court filings that Eduard was detained because he did not have what authorities described as “a valid entry document.” Kyle Dahl, a special assistant U.S. attorney, contended in an Aug. 5 filing that “arriving aliens who lack valid documents must be detained.” Eduard had applied in February 2025 to extend his TPS protections, awaiting approval from the government. “The fact that (Eduard) has claimed protection from removal on temporary protected status does not change this status. Like parole, TPS does not amount to a lawful entry,” Dahl wrote. Mamedova argued Eduard had no criminal record and contended authorities were violating rules that protected her client from detention and removal. “The government’s been fighting me tooth and nail to not get him released,” Mamedova said during an Aug. 2 interview. “But under TPS, there’s a statute that Congress says, you are not removable, so they cannot deport you. So what’s the point of keeping him in detention?” After nearly two months, Eduard was released from detention Aug. 13. He was given back his cell phone and his watch, but none of the documentation he'd originally provided to law enforcement. Eduard's father drove more than 1,300 miles to pick him up. They returned to New Jersey together. Mamedova said she doesn’t understand the government’s end game in detaining truck drivers like Eduard. She has extended family from Ukraine. The actions of ICE and other deputized agents toward the truck drivers contradict the "welcoming" America she thought she'd known. ## Crisis in Ukraine worsening since war began As Ali, Eduard and other drivers detained in Oklahoma face uncertainty, the situation [in their home country remains dire](https://www.usatoday.com/news/ukraine/). Aerial bombardments continue to escalate ahead of the season changes, as Russian President Vladimir Putin orders large-scale strikes against Ukraine’s energy hubs. When a Russian missile ravaged Kyiv's Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in July 2024, it killed the doctor who had been treating Eduard’s sister. The girl could not live without a bone marrow transplant, so Eduard signed up to be the donor. His sister is now 11. Ali and Eduard have questioned why they were being arrested and held if they'd been trying to comply with requirements for their humanitarian programs that are making it possible for their families to survive. Ahlgren and Mamedova believe the Ukrainian truck drivers are being swept up in enforcement actions [to boost quota numbers for ICE](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/14/ice-immigration-detention-centers-booming-trump/88158810007/). "Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been told you must arrest X amount of people per day, per week, and they are completely ignoring their standing, their status, in the United States," Ahlgren said. ## Ukrainian parolees among immigrants ‘living in fear’ nationwide When Trump announced his heightened deportation effort, he said the U.S. would target dangerous criminals. The Ukrainian truck drivers are "easy prey" trapped in the crackdown, Mamedova said. During a recent trip to the West Coast, Ahlgren said he met a Ukrainian worker who'd been advising other truck drivers to avoid traveling through Oklahoma because of the likelihood of being jailed. "We're already a 'fly-over state' in some respects, but do we want to be a 'drive-around state,' too?" Ahlgren said. Other experts in legal and immigration services say that such warnings and concerns don't surprise them. "I think every immigrant who’s not a citizen is feeling pressure," says YWCA Tulsa Legal Services Director Robin Sherman. "At every level of immigration, the policies are changing in a way that is negative and negatively impacts immigrants." YWCA Tulsa CEO Julie Davis said some of the organization's clients are "living in fear," scared to travel outside Oklahoma or even within the state. "We have clients and team members who said that they are feeling like prisoners," Davis said. "Even though they have documentation and are here legally, they’re afraid of being picked up, being put into detention, and being separated from their family." The risk of being detained again is too great for Eduard. Days after he was released, Eduard sold his truck and started considering other career options. He and his father, a mechanic, fix and sell salvaged cars. Eduard is uncertain how long that will be financially viable. His family members are building a life in the United States. He is hopeful that he can stay with them. He had faced potential removal in October if the federal government had declined to extend his temporary protected status. But the government missed its 60-day notification deadline on a decision, so his status will be extended another six months, until April 2027. While things are better for him, Eduard is still thinking about others jailed at the Cimarron prison in Cushing. “It’s like winning a lottery to get out of there,” Eduard told The Oklahoman through an interpreter. “You never know if you will be able to get out or not. People file all sorts of documents, and people get denials and are not let out.” Ali, meanwhile, has relocated to Texas to find different work after his CDL wasn't renewed. He would like to be able to visit with family members in Ukraine, but hopes to remain a resident worker in the U.S. If he ever finds himself again in Oklahoma, Ali said he would feel uneasy “in the depths of his soul”. While he “can’t judge off one situation (with) those ICE officers,” Ali said through an interpreter that “he would be still a little bit afraid.”