Secretary of State Pauses Worker Visas for Truck Drivers Following Fatal Crash
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a pause in all worker visa issuance for commercial truck drivers.
The decision follows a recent crash on Florida's Turnpike involving an illegal immigrant truck driver that resulted in three fatalities. Rubio stated, “The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.”
The driver involved in the incident, 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, crossed the Southern border illegally in 2018. He obtained a full-term commercial driver's license from Washington in July 2023, and a limited-term non-domiciled license from California in July 2024. The Department of Transportation is investigating the legality of these licenses.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted, “This crash was a preventable tragedy… Non-enforcement and radical immigration policies have turned the trucking industry into a lawless frontier.” Singh reportedly made an illegal U-turn before colliding with a minivan.
According to the Department of Transportation, Singh failed the English Language Proficiency assessment, accurately responding to only 2 of 12 questions. An order mandating fluency in English for commercial drivers was issued by Duffy in May.
Singh received a speeding ticket in New Mexico in July, but officers did not perform an English language test at that time.
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