Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has warned that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “dangerous” pro-migrant policies are “spilling over state lines,” after an illegal immigrant truck driver — with a New York commercial license — was involved in a deadly crash in Indiana.
Goderdzi Gujabidze, 56, of Brooklyn, was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody following the multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 65 in Boone County, Ind., Nov. 14, which killed 23-year-old Indiana National Guardsman Terry Frye, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
“Due to the language barrier with Mr. Gujabidze, he was transported to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office afterward to meet with a translator,” authorities said in a statement. “During the course of this initial investigation, our department was notified by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they had placed a hold on Mr. Gujabidze.
“The Boone County Sheriff’s Office detained Mr. Gujabidze in our facility in accordance with department policy.”
The exact cause of the crash that killed Frye is still under investigation.
Gujabidze, from the country of Georgia, was driving a “car hauler truck,” according to ICE records and the sheriff’s office.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has warned that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “dangerous” pro-migrant policies are “spilling over state lines,” after an illegal immigrant truck driver — with a New York commercial license — was involved in a deadly crash in Indiana.
Goderdzi Gujabidze, 56, of Brooklyn, was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody following the multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 65 in Boone County, Ind., Nov. 14, which killed 23-year-old Indiana National Guardsman Terry Frye, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
“Due to the language barrier with Mr. Gujabidze, he was transported to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office afterward to meet with a translator,” authorities said in a statement. “During the course of this initial investigation, our department was notified by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they had placed a hold on Mr. Gujabidze.
“The Boone County Sheriff’s Office detained Mr. Gujabidze in our facility in accordance with department policy.”
The exact cause of the crash that killed Frye is still under investigation.
Gujabidze, from the country of Georgia, was driving a “car hauler truck,” according to ICE records and the sheriff’s office. He obtained a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license (CDL) in New York after he crossed the southern border through San Luis, Ariz., in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Wire, with a DHS official describing Gujabidze as “an illegal alien.”
The CDL was issued to Gujabidze in December 2023 and expires in March 2027, an image of the license obtained by the outlet shows.
“The Worst Governor in America wants New Yorkers to share the road with illegals even if they can’t read English traffic signs,” Stefanik told The Post, using the moniker she has given Hochul since launching her campaign for governor earlier this month.
This illegal should have never been driving an 18-wheeler,” the upstate congresswoman argued.
Hochul was sued by the Trump administration earlier this year over New York’s so-called “green light law,” which allows residents to obtain driver’s licenses “regardless of their citizenship or lawful status.”
The New York Department of Motor Vehicles maintains that individuals “cannot apply for a commercial license (CDL) under this law.”
It was not immediately clear whether Gujabidze had been issued a CDL by another state, in which case he still would have had to apply to receive a New York license.
“Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary state Green Light Law isn’t just a threat to New Yorkers; it’s spilling over state lines and endangering families across America,” Stefanik said, adding: “Just this week, our brave border patrol officers arrested 30 illegal aliens with commercial drivers’ licenses along I-90 in Kathy Hochul’s New York.”
Stefanik was referring to recent inspections in western New York — dubbed “Operation Bear Cave” — carried out by US Border Patrol and ICE agents.
The operation resulted in 37 arrests, with 30 suspects possessing “state-issued commercial vehicle driver licenses, including New York State,” according to Customs and Border Protection.
“How’d they get behind the wheel of up to 80,000-pound semis? Because of Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary state policies and dangerous ‘Green Light Law,’” Stefanik charged.
