Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said “effective immediately” he would pause the issuance of worker visas for commercial drivers after an illegal immigrant truck driver allegedly caused a crash that killed three people in Florida.
In a post on X, Rubio cited public safety for the move.
“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,” he wrote.
BLUE STATE INVESTIGATES HOW ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER GOT LICENSE BEFORE DEADLY FLORIDA CRASH
Concerns about foreign workers driving commercial trucks began after Harjinder Singh, 28, who entered the U.S. illegally, was driving a commercial truck with a trailer on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce when he allegedly attempted a U-turn in an unauthorized area.
The turn resulted in the trailer jackknifing and colliding with a minivan, which left all three of the minivan’s passengers dead, authorities said.
Further scrutiny of Singh revealed that he didn’t pass English and road tests before obtaining a commercial driver’s license.
He was granted a full-term commercial driver’s license in Washington in July 2023, despite not being legally eligible. He was also given a limited-term commercial driver’s license in California in 2024.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been in a heated war of words with the Trump administration over Singh.
This week, Newsom’s press office said on X that Singh obtained a work permit during President Donald Trump‘s first term.
Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, responded, saying Singh was denied in September 2020, under Trump, but was granted one in June 2021, under the Biden administration.
Singh has been extradited to Florida from California to face three counts of vehicular homicide.
