US pauses visas for foreign truck drivers after an Indian man's deadly crash taking illegal U-turn

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that effective immediately, the US is pausing the issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers in the United States. He cited reasons of road safety and loss of jobs for Americans at the hands of foreign drivers as reasons. Rubio made the announcement in a post on X on Friday. "Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers. 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's announcement comes shortly after the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lodged an arrest detainer for Harjinder Singh. DHS, citing the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Singh, an illegal alien, on August 12 attempted to make an illegal U-turn through an "official use only" access point, which blocked all lanes of the highway with his truck and resulted in a wreck, causing 3 deaths. In a post on X on August 18, Secretary Noem said that her team is working to "root out and prevent illegal aliens from obtaining these licenses from sanctuary jurisdictions that put American drivers and passengers in danger."

Acccording to The Hill, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Tuesday that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched an investigation into the deadly Florida highway crash. Previously, US President Trump had penned an executive order in late April requiring all commercial truck drivers operating in the United States to be proficient in English. He had designated English as the country's official language in an executive order in March. The Hill cited the White House order, which said at that time, "They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers... Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English." According to The Hill, foreign truckers in the US are usually working on H-2B visas. It further reported that on Thursday, the US State Department confirmed it is reviewing more than 55 million US visa holders for possible deportable violations, including criminal activity, visa overstays and engagement in any form of "terrorist activity."