U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Simranpal Singh, a commercial driver licensed by New York, during a September 4, 2026, vehicle inspection in Newberry, Pennsylvania, the Department of Homeland Security announced September 14. DHS said Singh, an Indian national without legal immigration status, also had an outstanding warrant for wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy from the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Singh will remain in ICE custody pending transfer to the U.S. Marshals Service, according to DHS. After the criminal case is completed, ICE is expected to resume custody, and Singh will receive due process through pending removal proceedings.
An officer with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Philadelphia encountered Singh while inspecting commercial vehicles at a weigh station. DHS said Singh presented his New York-issued commercial driver’s license as required, after which the officer determined his immigration status and took him into custody.
According to DHS, Singh entered the United States through Arizona in June 2022, was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol and was subsequently released into the country during the Biden administration. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin blamed the prior administration’s border policies and New York’s sanctuary policies for Singh’s presence in the country and possession of a commercial driver’s license. Those characterizations and the department’s claims about public-safety consequences reflect DHS’s stated position.
DHS also cited three other cases involving immigrants connected to New York-issued commercial licenses or the state’s sanctuary policies. The department said ICE arrested Sukhdev Singh, an Indian national with a New York commercial driver’s license, in March after a semi-truck crash in Indianapolis left a U.S. citizen hospitalized in critical condition. It said ICE arrested Anmol Anmol, another Indian national, in Oklahoma in October 2025 and that his New York license identified him as “No Name Given” Anmol.
In a third case, DHS said New York Police Department officers arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national and Tren de Aragua member, in August 2023 for recklessly driving a motorcycle with a 2-year-old child who was not wearing a helmet. According to the department, Ibarra was released and murdered nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia in February 2024, six months after the New York arrest.