Oklahoma

Is Oklahoma's Department of Public Safety ready to roll out Operation Guardian?

Published

11 months ago

February 5, 2025

Is Oklahoma's Department of Public Safety ready to roll out Operation Guardian?

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety released a progress report on its goal to implement “Operation Guardian” — a plan to deport “criminal illegal aliens” from state and county jails.

2 News read the full 10-page report. Here’s what we found.

Oklahoma Commissioner of Public Safety and Homeland Security Advisor Tim Tipton was charged with finding strategies to implement the plan by Governor Kevin Stitt in November 2024.

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‘Operation Guardian’ | What it means for Oklahoma

The report outlines legal precedents allowing these deportations but said more is needed from the federal government before a full comprehensive plan can be made.

“In consultation with Governor Stitt, it seems clear a comprehensive plan cannot be completed and executed until President Trump’s cabinet and agency heads have an opportunity to implement President Trump’s executive orders and agenda concerning illegal immigrants,” Tipton said. “However, please accept this report on the findings and planning progress to date.”

How many illegal immigrants are in Oklahoma state prisons?

According to the report, 525 illegal immigrants are being held in ODOC prisons.

Of those 525, these are the crimes they’re being held for:

139 (27%) non-violent drug crimes,
11 (2%) non-violent property crimes,
103 (20%) violent assault crimes,
38 (7%) violent sex crimes,
159 (30%) violent crimes against children, and
75 (14%) violent crimes resulting in death.

The report also shared the nationality of those 525:

377 (72%) Mexico
40 (8%) Guatemala
35 (7%) Honduras
7 (1%) Vietnam
66 (12%) Other

What does the state plan to do about it?

Tipton outlines the first steps of the plan, which include:

Identifying approaches to transferring criminal illegal aliens in ODOC to ICE custody for removal
Identifying approaches to transferring criminal illegal aliens in county jails to ICE custody for removal
Addressing criminal illegal aliens who have already been released from ODOC custody
Identifying approaches for law enforcement officer contacts with criminal illegal aliens
Identifying approaches to mitigate the risks faced by migrant juveniles who were
released at the border into the U.S. by the Biden-Harris administration

Is Operation Guardian legal?

Tipton and his team reviewed existing laws and said they found several legal approaches to take.

Oklahoma statutes allow for a few types of parole that would allow ICE to take custody of the inmates:

Removal Parole is allowed under Oklahoma Statute Title 57 for non-violent offenders who are not a U.S. citizen and have a final deportation order. Removal Parole requires three Pardon and Parole Board members to agree on their parole.

Administrative Parole, given under the same statute, allows parole for non-violent criminals who served at least a third or fourth of their sentence depending on when the crime was committed. Administrative Parole requires action by the Pardon and Parole Board. Offenders eligible for this type will be paroled from ODOC custody whether or not ICE take the offender.

If the offender is within six months of their discharge date, there must also be no objection from the victim or district attorney. If they are not within six months of discharge, there must be no objection and the offender must have complied with their ODOC case plan.

Traditional Discretionary Parole, under the same statute, is for offenders who have served a portion of their sentence and weren’t sentenced to life without parole. For both violent and non-violent offenders, parole is subject to the discretion of the Pardon and Parole Board and the Governor.

ICE Rapid REPAT (Removal of Eligible Parolees Accepted for Transfer) is authorized under federal andstate statutes. This method requires a US-issued deportation order, serving 1/3 of their sentence, and a non-85% crime conviction. The federal government would also require that the state request the removal in formal writing. The offender must waive all administrative and judicial appeals and agree to cooperate with ICE to facilitate the removal.

Oklahoma law, since 1996, directs the ODOC to “vigorously” pursue available mechanisms to support ICE in processing inmates for removal.

In addition to these, President Trump’s Executive Orders would likely expand the options available if implemented.

How much does this cost?

The report found it costs $36,000 a day in taxpayer funds to house those 525 people.

No information was given on how much Operation Guardian would cost to implement.

What about illegal immigrants in county jails?

Tipton says in the report, “There are likely hundreds more with ICE detainers (or who would qualify for ICE detainers) in county jails serving out a judgment and sentence for being held in pretrial detention.”

2 News has been tracking ICE holds in the Tulsa County Jail since Jan. 23 and has only seen two. At the time of publishing this article, the jail reports having zero ICE holds.

The Tulsa County Jail does have an agreement with ICE under the 287g program. Under this, ICE trained detention officers evaluate the citizenship of people booked into the jail.

If they determine that person is not here legally, ICE places a 287g hold on that inmate. Once that person has dealt with their state charges, they are turned over to ICE, a jail representative said.

The representative did clarify that the jail is not an ICE holding facility. Any illegal inmate booked must be picked up by ICE within 72 hours.

The report identified three other detention facilities with some form of agreement with ICE. Those are Okmulgee, Canadian and Kay counties.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma City takes on Charlotte, looks for 4th straight home win

Published

40 minutes ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma City takes on Charlotte, looks for 4th straight home win

Charlotte Hornets (12-23, 12th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (30-6, first in the Western Conference)

Oklahoma City; Monday, 8 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -15.5; over/under is 232.5

BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City hosts Charlotte looking to continue its three-game home winning streak.

The Thunder have gone 17-2 at home. Oklahoma City scores 121.9 points while outscoring opponents by 14.7 points per game.

The Hornets have gone 5-13 away from home. Charlotte ranks fourth in the league averaging 15.1 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.7% from downtown. Kon Knueppel leads the team averaging 3.6 makes while shooting 42.8% from 3-point range.

The Thunder’s 13.6 made 3-pointers per game this season are the same per game average that the Hornets allow. The Hornets are shooting 45.6% from the field, 2.5% higher than the 43.1% the Thunder’s opponents have shot this season.

The teams square off for the second time this season. The Thunder won 109-96 in the last meeting on Nov. 16. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 33 points, and Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 15 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Chet Holmgren is averaging 18.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 25.0 points over the last 10 games.

Bridges is averaging 20.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Hornets. Brandon Miller is averaging 4.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 6-4, averaging 118.9 points, 42.5 rebounds, 24.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.3 points per game.

Hornets: 5-5, averaging 118.7 points, 45.6 rebounds, 28.8 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.8 points.

INJURIES: Thunder: Nikola Topic: out (groin), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee), Ousmane Dieng: out (calf), Jaylin Williams: out (heel), Isaiah Hartenstein: out (calf).

Hornets: Mason Plumlee: out (groin), Grant Williams: out (acl), Ryan Kalkbrenner: day to day (elbow), Tidjane Salaun: day to day (ankle), Moussa Diabate: day to day (wrist).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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Oklahoma

Three Big 12 Transfers Oklahoma State Is Reportedly Interested In

Published

13 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Three Big 12 Transfers Oklahoma State Is Reportedly Interested In

PORTAL TRACKER

Oklahoma State’s newly constructed staff got on the board Saturday, picking up portal commitments on offense and special special teams, so how about some defense?

Three Big 12 defenders have been linked with Oklahoma State via the transfer portal over the past few days, including a pair of former OK Preps standouts. Here’s a look.

Kanijal Thomas, CB, Kansas State

Thomas is an Oklahoman, playing his high school ball at Del City. He visited Stillwater on Saturday, according to On3.

He was a redshirt sophomore for the Wildcats in 2025, playing in seven games as a true freshman in 2023 before an injury saw his sophomore season end two games in.

Thomas played in eight games at K-State in 2025, finishing the year with five tackles, a PBU and a forced fumble. According to PFF, he gave up four catches for 21 yards this season on seven targets.

Now listed at 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, Thomas was a three-star prospect coming out of Del City in the 2023 class. He picked K-State over offers from OSU, Texas Tech, Iowa State and others.

Maurion Horn, CB, Texas Tech

Another Oklahoma kid, Maurion Horn has spent the past four seasons in Lubbock, where he has played in 30 games during that time. According to 247Sports, Horn will visit Stillwater on Monday.

He started all of Tech’s games in 2024, finishing that season with 56 tackles, three tackles for loss and five pass breakups. He played in seven games and dealt with some sort of injury, appearing on Tech’s availability report in Weeks 4, 14 and 15.

Horn has been targeted 88 times in his career, per PFF, where he has allowed just 47 catches.

He was a four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of Broken Arrow. He ended up picking Tech over offers from OSU, OU, Texas, Baylor, Arkansas and others.

Braylon Rigsby, Edge, Texas Tech

Listed at 6-foot-2, 275 pounds, Braylon Rigsby will join his Texas Tech teammate in Stillwater on Monday, according to 247Sports.

He’s played in 26 games across the past two seasons in Lubbock, accumulating 25 tackles and three tackles for loss during that time.

Per PFF, Rigsby has 21 QB pressures in his career to go with two QB hits.

He hails from Woodsville, Texas, which is near the Louisiana border. Rigsby was a three-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, coming in as the No. 861 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking.

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Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma

Published

1 day ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma

Elite Delta Force captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife about 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

It happened in the Caracas, the capitol of Venezuela.

Social media posts how strikes ordered by President Trump into Venezuela and its military bases.

News 9 political analyst Scott Mitchell said the relationship between the U.S. and Latin America has not always been smooth and adds so many dominos will fall as a result.

“Venezuela is the beachhead for our adversaries that’s Cuba and Russia and China and Iran and it looks as if this latest situation where that they were assembling Iran swift attack boats that was sort of the last straw,” said Mitchell.

Retired war correspondent Mike Boettcher said the planning on capturing Maduro began in mid-December.

He adds Venezuela is a massive oil supplier whose oil has been taken off the market for years because of sanctions.

He has concerns about what comes next.

“That disrupts a lot of things.It even has an effect on the war in Ukraine, as Russia, you know, has used higher oil revenue because Venezuela’s oil was off the market.Oil prices went up.It helps fund the war in Ukraine,” said Boettcher.

The ramifications could even reach Oklahoma.

“China gets a 30 percent discount on the oil.If Venezuela goes for a more legitimate government and the sanctions are lifting, then they’re flooding the oil markets and that means bad news for the Oklahoma economy,” added Mitchell.

Following the capture of Maduro, President Trump said the U.S. will take control of the oil reserves in Venezuela.

Sources also say there are plans from the current administration to recruit American companies to invest billions of dollars in their oil industry.

A verified video shows the current state of Venezuela after the military operation.

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