{"id":47104,"date":"2025-11-21T10:14:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/47104\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T10:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T10:14:14","slug":"exclusive-elise-stefanik-rips-hochul-after-illegal-immigrant-trucker-with-ny-license-involved-in-deadly-wreck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/47104\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Elise Stefanik rips Hochul after illegal immigrant trucker with NY license involved in deadly wreck"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) <\/a>has warned that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s \u201cdangerous\u201d pro-migrant policies are \u201cspilling over state lines,\u201d after an illegal immigrant truck driver \u2014 with a New York commercial license \u2014 was involved in a deadly crash in Indiana.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Office<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to the language barrier with Mr. Gujabidze, he was transported to the Boone County Sheriff\u2019s Office afterward to meet with a translator,\u201d authorities said in a statement. \u201cDuring 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.<\/p>\n

Goderdzi Gujabidze was taken into ICE custody following the deadly, multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 65 in Boone County, Ind., on Nov. 14.<\/p>\n

The aftermath of the Nov. 14 crash on Interstate 65. Indiana Department of Transportation<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Boone County Sheriff\u2019s Office detained Mr. Gujabidze in our facility in accordance with department policy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The exact cause of the crash that killed Frye is still under investigation.<\/p>\n

Gujabidze, from the country of Georgia, was driving a \u201ccar hauler truck,\u201d according to ICE records and the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

He obtained a non-domiciled commercial driver\u2019s license (CDL) in New York<\/a> after he crossed the southern border through San Luis, Ariz., in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Wire<\/a>, with a DHS official describing Gujabidze as \u201can illegal alien.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The CDL was issued to Gujabidze in December 2023 and expires in March 2027, an image of the license obtained by the outlet shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Worst Governor in America wants New Yorkers to share the road with illegals even if they can\u2019t read English traffic signs,\u201d Stefanik told The Post, using the moniker she has given Hochul since launching her campaign for governor<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Indiana National Guard Spc. Terry Frye was killed in the accident. Indiana National Guard<\/p>\n

\u201cThis illegal should have never been driving an 18-wheeler,\u201d the upstate congresswoman argued.<\/p>\n

Hochul was sued by the Trump administration earlier this year<\/a> over New York\u2019s so-called \u201cgreen light law,\u201d which allows residents to obtain driver\u2019s licenses \u201cregardless of their citizenship or lawful status.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The New York Department of Motor Vehicles maintains<\/a> that individuals \u201ccannot apply for a commercial license (CDL) under this law.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis illegal should have never been driving an 18-wheeler,\u201d Rep. Elise Stefanik argued. AP<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cKathy Hochul\u2019s sanctuary state Green Light Law isn\u2019t just a threat to New Yorkers; it\u2019s spilling over state lines and endangering families across America,\u201d Stefanik said, adding: \u201cJust this week, our brave border patrol officers arrested 30 illegal aliens with commercial drivers\u2019 licenses along I-90 in Kathy Hochul\u2019s New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stefanik was referring to recent inspections in western New York \u2014 dubbed \u201cOperation Bear Cave\u201d \u2014\u00a0 carried out by US Border Patrol and ICE agents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Andrew Schwartz \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

The operation resulted in 37 arrests, with 30 suspects possessing \u201cstate-issued commercial vehicle driver licenses, including New York State,\u201d according to Customs and Border Protection<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019d they get behind the wheel of up to 80,000-pound semis? Because of Kathy Hochul\u2019s sanctuary state policies and dangerous \u2018Green Light Law,\u2019\u201d Stefanik charged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DHS and ICE did not respond to The Post\u2019s requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCongresswoman Stefanik is not telling the truth,\u201d\u00a0Sean Butler, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement. \u201cThe Green Light Law has nothing to do with Commercial Drivers Licenses, which are regulated in Washington, not Albany.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York follows federal rules when issuing CDLs. Playing political games does nothing to keep our streets safe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has warned that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s \u201cdangerous\u201d pro-migrant policies are \u201cspilling over state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2300,3409,424,2035,3410,9424,426,3411,9,11,10,49,51,50,87,20857,58],"class_list":["post-47104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-department-of-homeland-security","tag-drivers-license","tag-elise-stefanik","tag-ice","tag-illegal-immigrants","tag-indiana","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-migrants","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-politics","tag-truckers","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}