The transportation sector’s trucking industry is increasingly the focus of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration as the federal government targets foreign commercial drivers nationwide.
While President Donald Trump’s first term focused heavily on border security, his second term has examined how illegal immigration affects business, healthcare, education, and crime — and his administration is implementing plans to disincentivize illegal immigration by targeting programs that have attracted it.
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In the wake of at least 17 fatal roadway accidents and 30 deaths in 2025 that involved illegal immigrants operating commercial trucks, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Trump administration has repeatedly ramped up its targeting of states that gave commercial driver’s licenses to people not authorized to reside or work in the United States.
Thousands of licenses revoked
Over the past year, the Trump administration has rescinded 28,000 illegally issued licenses and is now going after 194,000 more CDL holders, according to FMCSA’s final rule.
Foreign-born commercial drivers have doubled from 315,981 in 2000 to 720,000 in 2021, according to the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy nonprofit organization. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates they make up 18% of all commercial drivers.
In his first 100 days in office, Trump signed an executive order that required commercial truck drivers to speak English. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy implemented a requirement in May 2025 that truck drivers meet the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s English language proficiency standards and can read and follow road signs, or be taken off the road.
The American Trucking Associations, the largest national trade association for the trucking industry, had expressed support for the administration’s decision.
“ATA supports steps to strengthen credentialing standards and ensure that non-domiciled CDL holders have and maintain the proper authorization and qualifications required under federal law,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said in a statement. “Rules only work when they are consistently enforced, and it’s imperative that all state driver licensing agencies comply with federal regulations.”
Blue states under scrutiny
The crackdown heated up in August following a fatal crash involving three people in Florida that received significant media attention. Florida police identified Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old man from India, as the driver of an 18-wheeler truck who caused the accident after making an illegal U-turn. Singh, who had received a commercial driver’s license from California despite not being a resident, was handed state vehicular homicide charges.
This individual is an illegal immigrant who was granted a commercial driver’s license by the State of California — and now, three innocent people are dead.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2025
He has been arrested for vehicular homicide and an ICE detainer has been issued. https://t.co/6NkliBDdSl
An investigation by the FMCSA uncovered “significant failures” by California, New Mexico, and Washington, where officials failed to mark drivers as being unfit for a license due to a lack of English proficiency.
The Trump administration threatened to pull tens of millions of dollars in federal funding from those and other blue states unless they adopt and enforce English language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers.
It has already begun withholding funds from several other states, including $73 million from New York and $40 million from California.
As the back-and-forth between Democrat-run states and the White House continues, so have accidents involving illegal immigrant truck drivers.
Dalilah Coleman was severely injured at the age of 5 when an illegal immigrant operating an 18-wheeler crashed into her car. The driver illegally entered the country during the Biden administration and had been given a license to drive a commercial vehicle by California.
Duffy announced in February the results of a nationwide audit that found more than 30 states had issued “tens of thousands” of non-domiciled CDLs.
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Federal immigration agents are also working alongside state troopers at commercial truck weigh stations across the country as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on illegal commercial drivers, according to U.S. border czar Tom Homan.
Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday, Homan said the Department of Homeland Security is partnering with the Department of Transportation and state law enforcement agencies to identify commercial drivers who are operating trucks with improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses.
