According to a detailed report aired Nov. 28 on US Radio Punjab, Department of Homeland Security agents are conducting invasive workplace audits across Northern and Central California trucking companies, with a heavy focus on Punjabi-owned carriers.
Harpreet Terra, owner of the Medium fleet, which has been in business since 1997, told the station that DHS served him with an inspection notice while he was at a dental appointment in Sacramento. Officers first went to his home, then called his cell phone and pinpointed his exact location before meeting him in the parking lot to hand-deliver the summons.
The notice gave Thera three days to produce I-9 employment-eligible forms for every current and former employee from the previous two years — more than 100 records in all. Thera, which uses BBSI for payroll and handles 100% of the W-2 drivers to comply with California’s AB5 rule, filed the paperwork the same day.
DHS then escalated the audit: Agents selected 15 employees — including U.S. citizens, green card holders and work permit drivers — for individual interviews and asked for their personal phone numbers. The agents told Tera that they might conduct the interviews in person.
During the delivery, the main operator said that this is part of a new and extensive initiative. When Tera asked how many companies were targeted, the representative replied, “We are auditing all companies in Northern California.” Tera said the representative admitted it was his first audit, indicating the campaign was still on the rise.
The audits come amid broader federal pressure on California’s transportation sector:
- FMCSA revoked 17,000 indirect CDLs issued to foreign nationals earlier this month after it found the state failed to verify legal residency. Another 44,000 are under investigation.
- Reinstating the English language proficiency requirement for CDL holders has taken 7,248 drivers off the road since June.
- ICE enforcement actions at California workplaces spiked in 2025, with 77 Northern California carriers hit in the first half of the year alone.
Many smaller Punjabi carriers still work with 1099 independent contractors, a model that keeps costs competitive but exposes them to both AB5 labor claims and now federal immigration audits, industry sources say.
Scale of the Punjabi transport community in California
- California is home to an estimated 50,000 to 74,000 Punjabi/Sikh truck drivers and owners—roughly 40% of the state’s total long-haul driver pool.
- Nationwide, the Punjabi/Sikh trucking community has an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 drivers and owners who control 20 percent of U.S. trucking companies, despite making up only about 4 to 5 percent of the total driver workforce.
- The North American Punjab Trucking Association (NAPTA) lists more than 1,400 member companies operating more than 9,000 trucks, although this represents only a fraction of the total community.
Thera’s interview quickly went viral on California transportation chat groups. Radio Punjab USA closed the segment by urging owners to immediately check records and warning that “they do them all in Northern California.”
DHS has not publicly announced the audit campaign or released numbers on the number of companies served.
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