MERCER COUNTY, NJ — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a Hamilton man Aug. 23 as part of an operation targeting commercial driver's license fraud, the agency said Tuesday.
Khayrullo Payzullaev, 30, a citizen of Uzbekistan living in the country illegally, was found in possession of a non-domiciled Pennsylvania commercial driver's license, according to ICE. A Department of Justice immigration judge in Philadelphia ordered him detained July 21. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
The arrest was one of two made the same day by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers out of the agency's Newark field office; a second man was arrested in Woodbridge. ICE said both arrests were carried out in support of a Department of Homeland Security effort targeting fraudulent commercial driver's license practices nationwide.
"Our field office is fully aligned with DHS' commitment to enforcing our immigration laws and Secretary Mullin's focus on protecting our communities and keeping dangerous individuals off our roadways," ICE Newark Field Office Director Arthur Wilson said in a statement. "Every day, ICE officers in New Jersey are dedicated to identifying, arresting and removing individuals who are unlawfully present and who endanger the American people."
In July, DHS and the Department of Transportation announced a partnership to crack down on fraudulent practices at commercial driver's license schools nationwide. ICE officers in New Jersey are certified by the Department of Transportation to identify fraudulent CDL operators, the agency said.
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