ICE arrested 13 truck drivers from post-Soviet countries at the Pennsylvania DMV.

On April 3, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained 13 people at a driver's license (DMV) center in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson confirmed. CBS News.

All 13 individuals, described by DHS as "illegally present," were detained near the West Kittanning station. They are from the former Soviet Union – Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.

According to the department, one of the detainees resisted arrest and attacked a local police officer.

On the subject: A Georgian truck driver called police about a damaged truck, but was arrested and turned over to ICE.

Long lines inside the building and a parking lot filled with tractor-trailers attracted people's attention.

"That morning, I noticed a lot of foreigners there. They didn't speak English, so I decided to call ICE," said Gary Klingensmith, who lives across the street from the center.

Although he was unable to reach immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security reported that East Franklin police did. According to a department spokesperson, concerned citizens alerted local police to an unusually large crowd near the driver's license center.

"It looked strange," Klingensmith noted.

He said he saw that the truck cabins were packed with people: "They opened the door and ten people came out."

"There was no suspicious activity. They were standing at the door with documents in hand," added Ryan Moore, who was there when ICE officers arrived. "I saw immigration agents detaining a large number of people."

Klingensmith reported that many people ran through his yard during the arrests.

It is still unclear why there were so many people there.

Frontline Dignity, a Pittsburgh-based immigrant advocacy group and immigration enforcement response organization, issued a statement regarding the incident.

"A supposed website error directs people to a center in West Kittanning to renew their commercial driver's licenses, but the service is not available there," the group posted on Facebook.

According to Frontline Dignity's website, the organization provides training to help communities "respond safely and ethically to real-time immigration checks."

Local television station KDKA-TV did indeed find a sign indicating that commercial driver's license exams were being held on the premises, but for some reason it was posted outside a chiropractor's office, not in the center itself.

The Department of Homeland Security said "the incident remains under investigation."

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman Alexis Campbell said the agency had not coordinated with federal authorities in any way regarding the arrests.

According to her, the West Kittanning center processed medical forms for individuals without permanent residence in the United States who held commercial learner's permits or driver's licenses. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation uses the database to verify immigration status, she added.

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"Commercial learner permits and homeless driver licenses are subject to a suspension in accordance with guidance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation," Campbell explained. "In accordance with these guidelines, such permits have not been issued or renewed. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation strictly enforces both state and federal laws, so no activities or operations that violate these laws are taking place in West Kittanning or elsewhere."

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