The Trump administration is cracking down on truck driving schools, allegedly enabling illegal migrants and other unqualified people to drive on American highways.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to revoke the certification of nearly 3,000 Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) schools for “failing to equip” students with the Trump administration’s training requirements, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The announcement is the latest move by the White House after a string of deadly vehicle crashes, allegedly caused by illegal migrant truck drivers, has attracted national attention.
The targeted training providers must notify students that their certification may be in jeopardy, according to the DOT. An additional 4,500 schools are being warned they may be subjected to similar action.
“This administration is cracking down on every link in the illegal trucking chain,” Duffy said in a Monday statement. “Under Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, bad actors were able to game the system and let unqualified drivers flood our roadways.”
“Their negligence endangered every family on America’s roadways, and it ends today,” Duffy continued. “Under President Trump, we are reigning in illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”
The Training Provider Registry (TPR) lists all schools officially certified to offer training for CDL students, according to the DOT. Schools are being removed from the TPR for allegedly manipulating or falsifying data, not meeting the required curriculum standards, failing to maintain accurate or complete documentation or refusing to provide records during audits, among other infractions.
Schools that received a notice have 30 days to comply with the Trump administration’s training requirements or else be removed from the registry, according to the DOT announcement.
The threat to CDL schools follows several high-profile highway accidents allegedly caused by illegal migrant truckers who managed to obtain a commercial license.
Harjinder Singh, an Indian national who illegally entered the U.S., allegedly took an unlawful U-turn off a Florida turnpike in August, blocking all lanes and instantly killing three people in a vehicle that smashed into his tractor-trailer. In October, Jashanpreet Singh, another Indian man in the U.S. illegally, allegedly plowed into multiple vehicles off a California highway, killing three individuals in the process.
Rajinder Kumar, an Indian national arrested in late November for allegedly causing a fatal accident along an Oregon highway, is currently wanted by federal immigration authorities for being in the country unlawfully.
The Trump administration has issued emergency rules that mandate non-citizens undergo a federal immigration status check and carry an employment-based visa if they wish to earn a non-domiciled CDL. Administration officials have also threatened non-compliant states with millions in federal funding cuts if they don’t take immediate action to fix their CDL programs.
“If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers. We will not tolerate negligence,” Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Derek Barrs stated on Monday.
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