WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday (Aug 21) abruptly stopped issuing US visas for truck drivers after a deadly crash drew nationwide consideration, its newest sweeping step towards international guests.
“Efficient instantly we’re pausing all issuance of employee visas for industrial truck drivers,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X.
“The growing variety of international drivers working giant tractor-trailer vans on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” he wrote.
Rubio’s motion got here after a truck driver was charged with killing three folks on a freeway in Florida whereas making an unlawful U-turn.
Harjinder Singh, who’s from India, allegedly entered the US illegally from Mexico and failed an English examination after the crash, in keeping with federal officers.
The case has gathered vast media consideration and has been highlighted by officers in Florida, managed by Trump’s Republican Social gathering, with the lieutenant governor flying to California to extradite Singh personally alongside immigration brokers on Thursday.
The crash has taken on a political dimension partially as Singh obtained his industrial license in California and likewise lived within the West Coast state, which is run by the rival Democratic Social gathering and opposes Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
“This crash was a preventable tragedy straight attributable to reckless choices and compounded by despicable failures,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s workplace responded that the federal authorities underneath Trump had issued a piece allow to Singh, who sought asylum, and that California had cooperated in extraditing him.
Even earlier than the crash, Republican lawmakers have been taking intention at international truckers, pointing to a rising variety of accidents with out offering proof of a direct hyperlink to immigrants.
In June, Duffy issued a directive that truck drivers should communicate English.
Truck drivers have lengthy been required to move assessments that embody primary English proficiency, however in 2016 underneath former president Barack Obama, authorities have been instructed to not take truckers off the street solely on account of language deficiencies.
