‘Endangering American lives’: Work visas for foreign truck drivers paused; announcement after Harjinder Singh’s deadly U-turn in Florida that killed 3

Rubio announces pausing work visas for commercial truck drivers; cites road safety concerns following the Florida crash

The United States will stop issuing worker visas for commercial truck drivers with immediate effect, Secretary of state Marco Rubio announced on Thursday. In a post on X, Rubio said the move was aimed at curbing the rise of foreign drivers on American roads. “The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on US roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” he wrote. The decision followed last week’s deadly Florida crash involving Harjinder Singh, an Indian-origin driver who killed 3 people while making an illegal U-turn.Harjinder Singh was driving a semi truck on August 12 on when he took a wrong U-turn which resulted in an accident involving a mini van. Two passengers, a 37-year-old woman from Pompano Beach and a 54-year-old man from Miami onboard the mini van, died at the scene.Federal officials said Singh entered the country illegally from Mexico and failed an English test after the accident. He has been charged with three counts of vehicular homicide. Florida’s Republican officials seized on the case, with the lieutenant governor personally flying to California to extradite Singh alongside federal agents. The incident has since escalated into a political flashpoint between President Donald Trump’s administration and Democratic-run California. Trump officials accused California Governor Gavin Newsom of responsibility as the state issued Singh a commercial license. Newsom’s office countered that Singh’s work permit was issued by the Trump administration itself, while California had fully cooperated in the extradition. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was investigating the Florida crash. He added that the government was enforcing stricter English proficiency requirements for truckers to improve road safety.Duffy said, “This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures.” In April, Trump signed an executive order mandating English proficiency for all commercial drivers operating in the US. “Drivers should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with officers, and give feedback to employers and customers in English,” the White House said at the time. Meanwhile, the State department confirmed it is vetting more than 55 million US visa holders for potential deportable offenses, including overstays, criminal activity and suspected terrorist links.