The Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign-born truckers is growing as federal officials announced they’re temporarily halting issuing visas for some cross-border drivers.
The immediate impact of the decision announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Aug. 21 remains unclear. But the announcement comes in the wake of a horrific fatal crash in Florida involving an Indian-born trucker who pulled an illegal U-turn. The trucker had a California commercial driver’s license but failed mandatory English-language tests, officials said.
“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,” Rubio said in a statement.
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Do commercial truckers cause crashes?
There were roughly 120,000 “H-2B” visas available for this year, which allow non-citizens to temporarily work non-farm jobs, like trucking, to assist with seasonal labor shortages. Foreign tuckers can legally drive in the United States under several different programs; it remained unclear which specific ones Rubio has paused.
Out of about 3.5 million commercial truckers in the United States, the roughly 110,000 to 123,000 Canadian truckers were connected to crashes on American roads that injured 849 people and killed 77 last year, according to federal highway safety statistics. The 9,000 to 11,000 Mexican-licensed drivers permitted to drive outside narrow border zones were connected to 160 injuries and three fatalities in 2024.
American-citizen CDL holders were linked to more than 85,000 injuries and 4,700 fatalities last year. Through July 25, they were linked to more than 38,000 injuries and 1,851 deaths.
State enforcement officials issue about 50,000 tickets a year to drivers caught illegally operating commercial vehicles without a CDL or its equivalent from another country, making safety comparisons between countries difficult, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Rubio’s announcement is the latest in a series of actions taken by White House officials to clamp down on foreign truckers and boost the American trucking industry at a time when truckers carry more than 70% of all goods shipped in the country.
Trump administration efforts also include stricter enforcement of the English-language requirements, an investigation into what are known as “non-domiciled” CDLs issued by states to non-residents, fake CDLs issued by unscrupulous American trucking schools or bribed Mexican bureaucrats, and falsified medical paperwork.
Foreign trucker crackdown effect remains unclear
The American Trucking Associations, which supports stricter enforcement of trucking laws, said it’s still working to understand the impact of Rubio’s decision. The trucking industry struggles with high turnover due to low pay and poor working conditions, but some experts worry that too much enforcement could raise freight costs and ultimately mean consumers pay more for goods and groceries.
“ATA supports pausing work visas for commercial drivers and believes the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs needs serious scrutiny, including the enforcement of entry-level driver training standards,” the group said in a statement to USA TODAY. “At a minimum, we need better accounting of how many non-domiciled CDLs are being issued…”
International trade agreements require the United States to recognize Mexican and Canadian CDLs, although most Mexican-based truckers are limited to narrow areas along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Rubio’s announcement of the visa pause came a day after California-licensed trucker Harjinder Singh apeared in court on charges he caused a fatal Aug. 12 crash that killed three people. Federal officials said in a social media post that Singh is an illegal immigrant who does not speak English well enough to have been granted the non-domiciled California CDL he held.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump admin pauses foreign truck driver visas after deadly crash
