A California truck driver was sipping coffee at a truck stop, ready to begin his daily routine. This was not possible, as a couple of immigration officers approached him and began asking questions in what became a sudden immigration checkpoint.
Juan Cardenas, the U.S.-born truck driver and coffee sipper, shared the interaction on TikTok. He is a 26-year-old man who runs Trucking Dept, his trucking venture, and often posts truck-related vlogs. The clip attached above became his biggest video to date. In less than a day, it garnered two million views, 125,600 likes, and more than 1,400 comments.
The California man was at a truck stop located in Tonopah, Nevada, according to the location shown on TikTok. Juan was drinking his morning coffee when he noticed two immigration officers walking through the truck stop. They took notice of him and decided to approach him. One of them stated that this was an “immigration and customs inspection check.”
“Just checking all the truck drivers,” the officer said. “Just to let you know, you are being recorded. Okay?“
Juan agreed, and he began interacting with the immigration officer. First, he was asked where he was born. He answered, “I was born here in the United States.” Then, the officer followed his statement with another question: “And you’re a citizen of what country?” Juan said, “Of the United States.”
The officer then climbed onto the truck driver’s door to check on what he believed was another passenger. It wasn’t, as Juan had placed a full-size alien prop in the passenger’s seat for Halloween. The officer found it funny, and after a brief exchange, he let the California truck driver be.
Reactions
The interaction sparked many responses, some from viewers who were mad at the immigration officer. One said, “Our own people,” referring to the fact that the officer had Latino features just like Juan. Another one commented, “It’s a shame that our own countrymen work for immigration when their parents or family members were or will be immigrants.”
Other viewers, however, pointed out the non-escalatory nature of the interaction. One said, “See how easy it can be?” Another one added, “That’s simple… No biggie.. Answering questions, no one gets hurt…” Many users called them “bootlickers.”
This is not Juan’s first rodeo with immigration. He has a whole playlist of 48 different interactions with immigration agencies across mulitple states.
