WASHINGTON — Two undocumented Filipino immigrants are facing deportation after they and four other illegals were nabbed by federal authorities in Chicago for possessing valid state commercial licenses to transport hazardous materials.

“This cooperative law enforcement effort has closed a security vulnerability that might have resulted in dire consequences,” said Elissa Brown, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Investigation in Chicago. “This is a national security issue. Illegal aliens should not have the freedom to transport hazardous materials throughout the United States.”

While none of those apprehended has any known links to terrorism, federal agents said the recent busts have revealed a significant threat to homeland security.

In one case, a Pakistani man ordered to leave the United States nine years ago was instead driving a tanker truck filled with gasoline for Exxon.

The Justice Department has begun deportation proceedings against the two Filipinos and four other illegal immigrants from Belize, Jordan, Mexico and Mongolia, who had obtained commercial drivers’ licenses in Chicago that allowed them to carry hazardous materials.
ICE officials declined to release the names of the arrested Filipinos. “We don’t release names of people charged with administrative offenses as opposed to criminal offenses,” Tim Counts, a spokesman for the ICE, said.

All six men have been placed in deportation proceedings.

In addition to those arrested, ICE agents are seeking 10 more individuals they believe are in the U.S. illegally and who possess Illinois drivers licenses with hazardous materials endorsements.

The arrests in Chicago followed previous ICE enforcement actions in Florida, Michigan and Maryland in which more than 100 individuals have been arrested in connection with fraud schemes that enabled illegal aliens to obtain valid hazardous materials licenses, commercial driver’s licenses and/or driver’s licenses through respective state Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs).

Many states have strengthened their hazardous materials license screening since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. However, state laws remain inconsistent, and Customs says it remains relatively easy to obtain fraudulent documents that can be used to get a driver’s license.

The bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks criticized sometimes lax state standards for obtaining drivers’ licenses. Eighteen of the 19 hijackers in those attacks had valid drivers’ licenses or state-issued identification cards.

Earlier this year, President George W. Bush signed a law that requires all driver’s license applicants to provide proof of citizenship or legal residency.

States have three years to comply.
In addition to those arrested, ICE agents are seeking 10 additional individuals they believe are in the U.S. illegally and who possess Illinois drivers licenses with hazardous materials endorsements.