The Trump administration is rolling out new regulations to keep unqualified foreigners from driving commercial vehicles as illegal migrant truckers continue to cause mayhem on U.S. highways.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) will issue a new rule on Wednesday intended to eliminate a loophole in the commercial driving industry that has allowed illegal migrants and other foreign nationals to skirt government screening processes that American citizen drivers already abide by, according to details shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. The upcoming changes will mark the latest crackdown on migrants and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
“For far too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing systems – wreaking havoc on our roadways,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement obtained by the DCNF. “Moving forward, unqualified foreign drivers will be unable to get a license to operate an 80,000-pound big rig.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are putting the safety of the driving public first,” Duffy continued. “From enforcing English language standards to holding fraudulent carriers accountable, we will continue to attack this crisis on our roads head on.”
American CDL applicants must adhere to strict screening processes on national databases for any past driving violations, such as past DUIs or crashes, but state offices cannot currently access the records of illegal migrants and other foreign nationals wishing to drive big rigs, according to the DOT. This loophole has allowed foreign nationals with incredibly dangerous driving records to obtain trucking licenses by simply handing over an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which does not cover transportation safety.
The final rule, to be issued by the DOT later on Wednesday, intends to close this safety loophole by limiting eligibility to H-2A, H-2B and E-2 nonimmigrant status holders, according to the DOT. The new rule also prohibits the acceptance of EADs as proof of eligibility and requires state officials to query the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system to confirm every foreign applicant’s lawful immigration status.
The new rule follows drastic changes imposed by DOT in September that restricted foreign nationals from obtaining these commercial licenses. The crackdown is in response to a growing slate of deadly highway accidents allegedly caused by illegal migrant truck drivers who managed to obtain CDLs.
Harjinder Singh, Jashanpreet Singh, Rajinder Kumar and Kamalpreet Singh have been accused of causing fatal crashes on American highways in the past few months. All of the individuals are illegal migrants from India and all of them obtained a non-domiciled CDL in California before being accused of causing severe roadway accidents.
Other fatal accidents have since piled on, such as a wreck that killed four people earlier in February that was allegedly caused by a Kyrgyzstan national who obtained a CDL in Pennsylvania.
“A critical safety gap allowed unqualified drivers with unknown driving histories to get behind the wheel of commercial vehicles,” Federal Motor Carrier Administrator Derek Barrs said in a statement obtained by the DCNF. “We are closing that gap today to ensure that only qualified, vetted drivers are operating on our nation’s roadways.”
“If we cannot verify your safe driving history, you cannot hold a CDL in this country,” Barrs continued.
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