Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is joining in as the Washington, DC, police enforce traffic and licensing laws against the growing number of illegal moped drivers.
D.C. has been plagued with a wave of drivers using motorized bikes to deliver food and other items and who are either oblivious to, or purposefully flaunting, safety and the common rules of road. And the local police have recently begun cracking down on errant and dangerous moped drivers.
Unfortunately, local prosecutors have usually simply released anyone the D.C. police may have arrested, making the crackdown mostly a hollow effort. Now, though, with ICE joining the effort, drivers who are in the country illegally are not just being released and are, instead, headed for temporary detention and eventual deportation.
WATCH — President Trump Joins Police for D.C. Ride Along:
According to the Washington Post, ICE officers are shadowing the D.C. police as they pull over moped drivers and are then stepping in after the police conclude their stop. ICE then checks immigration status and arrests the driver if there is an immigration violation.
As one police officer told the paper, ICE agents “are in the back while we make the stop. Then while we are verifying permit status, they are using that information to determine immigration status.”
D.C. City Council Member Chander Jayaraman said the situation has become too dangerous, as moped drivers speed across the roads, weave in and out of traffic, and often completely ignore safety rules.
“They’re driving haphazardly. There is no instruction or guidance even for the users on what they’re supposed to do legally,” Jayaraman told NewsNation. “I think that is an area we can definitely do better.”
NewsNation also found that delivery companies such as Uber and DoorDash often find it difficult to determine if applicants are who they say they are and have legal work permits.
With drivers being considered “independent contractors,” most don’t have to work through strict verification procedures that other employees have to navigate. In general, they only have to provide a valid driver’s license and a Social Security number, the latter of which is easily faked or stolen from a real U.S. citizen.
WATCH — Trump Invites Media on D.C. Police Ride-Alongs to See Crime Firsthand:
To date, there are no tests for the drivers to determine if they can read English so that they can understand road signs, or if they have a grasp on the common rules of the road.
Migrants are also using mopeds for crime, such as sidewalk thefts of phones, jewelry, and expensive bicycles and motorcycles.
The growing safety threat represented by these dangerous moped drivers was highlighted this week when one such driver pulled a gun on a New York Police officer before being shot and killed in return.
Lahione Soto, 30, of the Dominican Republic was shot by an NYPD officer in the chest three times and killed after pulling a gun on the officer in New York City’s Washington Heights on Sunday, the New York Post reported.
Soto is an illegal alien who came across the Texas border in 2024 and is suspected of being involved in several robberies.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, X at WTHuston, or Truth Social at @WarnerToddHuston.
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