The Trump administration on Thursday abruptly ceased issuing U.S. visas for truck drivers, its latest sweeping action against foreign visitors, following a fatal crash that garnered national attention.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the move on X, stating, “Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.” He wrote that “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 action came after a truck driver was charged with killing three people on a Florida highway while making an illegal U-turn. Federal officials claim that the driver, Harjinder Singh, a native of India, entered the United States illegally from Mexico and failed an English examination after the crash.
The case has received widespread media coverage and has been highlighted by officials in Florida, a state controlled by Trump’s Republican Party. The lieutenant governor personally flew to California on Thursday to extradite Singh alongside immigration agents.
The crash has taken on a political dimension, in part because Singh obtained his commercial license and lived in California, a state led by the rival Democratic Party that opposes Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the incident “a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures.”
In response, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office stated that the Trump administration’s federal government had issued a work permit to Singh, who had sought asylum, and that California had fully cooperated in his extradition.
Even before this incident, Republican lawmakers had been targeting foreign truckers, citing a rise in accidents without providing direct evidence linking them to immigrants. In June, Duffy issued a directive requiring all truck drivers to speak English. While truckers have long been required to pass tests that include basic English proficiency, a 2016 policy under former President Barack Obama instructed authorities not to remove truckers from the road solely due to language deficiencies.
A Changing Workforce
According to federal statistics, the number of foreign-born truck drivers in the U.S. more than doubled between 2000 and 2021, reaching 720,000. Foreign-born drivers now constitute 18% of the industry, which is in line with the broader U.S. labor market but marks a shift for a profession long associated with white, working-class men. Industry groups note that over half of these foreign-born drivers are from Latin America, with significant numbers in recent years from India and Eastern European nations, particularly Ukraine. This influx of foreign drivers has been a response to market demand. A study earlier this year by the financial company altLine indicated that the U.S. faces a shortage of 24,000 truck drivers, costing the freight industry $95.5 million per week in undelivered goods.
Broader Visa Restrictions
Trump has long made his opposition to immigration a core issue, rising to political prominence in 2016 with promises to build a wall on the Mexican border. Rubio has taken a leading role in these efforts by cracking down on visas.
The State Department confirmed this week that it has revoked more than 6,000 student visas since Trump took office—four times the number from the same period last year. An official also stated that all 55 million foreigners with U.S. visas are subject to “continuous vetting.”
Rubio has ordered the scrutiny of applicants’ social media accounts and has publicly announced the removal of students who campaigned against Israel’s actions in Gaza, citing a law that permits him to revoke visas for individuals deemed to act against U.S. foreign policy interests. Additionally, over the weekend, the State Department paused visitor visas for severely wounded children from Gaza seeking medical treatment. This decision came after a conversation with Laura Loomer, a far-right activist close to Trump who has described the 9/11 attacks as an “inside job.” She said she spoke to Rubio and warned of “Islamic invaders” from Gaza.
