Federal agents arrested more than a dozen people at an Armstrong County driver license center on Friday.
In a statement provided to Channel 11, a DHS spokesperson says ICE responded to calls from the East Franklin Police Department “after concerned citizens reported an abnormally large amount of individuals outside the PennDOT driver licensing center in Kittanning, Pennsylvania.”
ICE arrested 13 “illegal aliens” from countries including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, the spokesperson says. One person allegedly resisted arrest and assaulted an officer.
“Residents thanked ICE for investigating their concerns and responding to their calls,” the spokesperson says, adding that the incident is under investigation.
Channel 11 reached out to PennDOT regarding the incident and was provided with this statement from a spokesperson:
“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 today.
“PennDOT follows all state and federal laws to issue driver’s licenses to lawfully present individuals. Pennsylvania uses the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database to verify legal presence for all non-domiciled commercial learner’s permit or driver license applicants. That federal system confirms immigration status in real-time.
“For non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits and driver licenses, we remain under a pause of issuing those documents, as directed by the United States Department of Transportation’s 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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