ICE arrests 13 after tip on truck drivers at Pennsylvania DMV sparks chaotic scene
Armstrong County Sheriff Frank Pitzer said multiple people fled federal agents and abandoned vehicles in the street during a chaotic scene outside a PennDOT licensing center near Kittanning, Pennsylvania, where more than a dozen illegal immigrants were ultimately arrested.
"It went even as far as people exiting their vehicles and abandoning them on the street," Pitzer told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Authorities said the incident followed tips from the public reporting numerous suspected immigrant drivers — many operating tractor-trailers — outside the West Kittanning Driver’s Licensing Center.
One witness told Fox News Digital he contacted DHS and filmed the scene Friday morning after noticing an "unusual amount" of people gathered outside the facility.
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Pitzer said he received reports that multiple individuals attempted to flee when agents arrived, as eyewitness accounts described brief chaos in the area. The sheriff told the paper he supports Trump’s enforcement efforts but wanted to see a "better plan" in situations like Friday’s, when he said only a "handful" of agents tried to handle "over 100 people."
Zach Scherer, a Butler-area firefighter and activist who was in attendance when President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated in that adjoining county in 2024, told Fox News Digital he filmed video early Friday showing an unusually large number of people outside the DLC.
"I reached out to local law enforcement as well as a call to DHS Pittsburgh [to] let them know," Scherer said.
"That’s when police came, as well as ICE. Later in the afternoon when I got to the DMV, there was still ICE present and 13 illegals were arrested," said Scherer, who also shared video from the DLC he took himself.
Another man walked into the DLC and began filming and asking those in line where they were from. One man said "China," which the videographer suggested was a sarcastic remark, while others said "Pakistan." It remained unclear if any of the men in the original videos that prompted the tips were the illegal immigrants ultimately captured by the feds.
DLC neighbor Gary Klingensmith also recounted the scene to KDKA, saying that when officers opened big-rig cab doors, "like 10 people came out" of some of them.
People began running through yards to escape ICE and there were "multiple" big rigs in the DLC lot, he said.
A DHS spokesperson confirmed much of the situation to Fox News Digital on Monday, adding that the East Franklin Township Police Department also called ICE after several citizens reported an "abnormally large amount of individuals outside the [DLC] in Kittanning."
The spokesperson said 13 illegal immigrants — including individuals from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan — were arrested, and one may also face additional charges of resisting arrest and assault on an officer.
"Residents thanked ICE for investigating their concerns and responding to their calls. The incident remains under investigation," the spokesperson said.
Alexis Campbell, a spokeswoman for PennDOT, told Fox News Digital the agency did not coordinate with federal officials in "any capacity in relation to this activity" and suggested the rush of truckers to the DLC was likely spurred by a coincidental mass expiration or required adjustment of key records.
"The West Kittanning Driver License Center was processing medical form updates for current holders of non-domiciled commercial learner’s permit or driver license holders, which resulted in a large number of customers at West Kittanning."
Campbell said PennDOT follows all state and federal laws to issue licenses to "lawfully present individuals" and that it uses the federal SAVE system to verify legal presence.
The Shapiro administration has been at odds with DHS after multiple Pennsylvania-issued licenses were found during arrests of illegal immigrant non-domiciled truckers around the country.
An illegal immigrant with a Northeast Philadelphia address was arrested during a roadside immigration operation in Oklahoma, sparking a dispute between the Trump administration and Gov. Josh Shapiro over who was the negligent party.
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Harrisburg officials previously told Fox News Digital that then-Secretary Kristi Noem needed to better upkeep her database of lawful residents.
Campbell noted PennDOT remains under a federal pause on issuing new non-domiciled CDLs by USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
"Per the direction of FMCSA, no non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits or driver licenses were issued or reissued. PennDOT remains steadfast in following state and federal law and there is no activity or transaction occurring at West Kittanning or elsewhere that violates state or federal law."
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USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy's office declined comment, while a representative for Shapiro told Fox News Digital that PennDOT's statements speak for the governor.
Duffy has been highlighting the scourge of illegal immigrants holding non-domiciled CDL licenses in the time since an Indian national allegedly killed a carload of people on Florida's Turnpike last year while navigating an illegal U-turn near Port St. Lucie last year.
The news in Kittanning came as ICE separately arrested more than 800 people due to tips and records provided by TSA officials for the first 12 months of President Donald Trump's administration, according to a Reuters report.
The report cited the TSA's Secure Flight Program as the source for the 31,000 total traveler records reviewed by authorities. That database was created in 2007 to help DHS check for potential passengers on terrorist and other federal watch lists.