By Ahsan Ali
In another crash on the Florida Turnpike on Aug. 12, three people were killed when their car collided with a semi-truck whose driver was reportedly attempting an illegal U-turn. The driver, Harjinder Singh, 28, is not a U.S. citizen.
They were found to be transporting nearly $1 million worth of methamphetamine when their car was searched at the listening station in Gulfport, Miss., and taken into custody there. Harjinder Singh is alleged to have dropped off two men at the location before being apprehended.
The two people on board that day successfully evaded arrest by fleeing into a nearby forest. Since the crash, the Trump Administration has held up the case as a symbol of its efforts to tighten immigration and trucking regulations.
Just over a week after the crash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweeted that he would end U.S. issuance of work visas for “foreign” commercial truck drivers. “These drivers are endangering American lives and undermining the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.
The administration had already been keen to ratchet up immigration enforcement on commercial drivers. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders his first month in office to reframe immigration policy.
A month after declaring English the country’s official language in April, Trump signed another order that driving a commercial vehicle requires “anyone behind the wheel” to be “properly qualified and proficient in English.”
The Florida crash could have been prevented had states “followed the rules,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on August 22. He put the blame for those woes at the feet of states like California and Washington, saying they had “non-enforcement and radical immigration policies” that were making the trucking industry a “lawless frontier.”
Duffy vowed that the administration would “employ every tool” to hold states and reckless drivers accountable.
Florida acted swiftly to pass tougher trucking laws after the crash. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Roberto Carlos Vergara Cervantes on August 24 after he used a New Jersey commercial driver’s license that the state of Florida does not recognize for illegal aliens.
Police found Cervantes nearby less than an hour later, and he was arrested about three-quarters of a mile from his home, according to the arrest report. He was charged with motor vehicle driving without a license, also a misdemeanor.
On the following day, Uthmeier said that since Cervantes was not a U.S. citizen, ICE would take him into custody and deport him. Cervantes was deported on Oct. 7, ICE confirmed.
“We are assisting our agricultural law enforcement and state police to increase the frequency of inspections at entry points for illegal aliens that may be operating large trucks holding out-of-state plates,” Uthmeier said on August 25. “If you come into this country illegally and can’t speak English, when you’re driving a big truck down the road, we should know it.”
Cervantes’s arrest immediately sparked concern on social media that anyone who happened to have an out-of-state license could be targeted. Officials later said the crackdown applies only to commercial drivers, many of whom are required to stop at weigh stations.
Still, moving to enforce immigration on roadways would signify a major escalation in how the enforcement is conducted.
Exact numbers have not been released, but according to a U.S. Border Patrol official, more than 6,000 immigrant arrests were made in Florida over the past five months as of Sept. 26. State authorities have also begun singling out truckers who do not speak English at Florida’s 23 agricultural inspection stations. And officers there now get assistance from ICE and new state funding to open more weigh stations and test drivers for their proficiency in English.
To date, only Cervantes has come to light in Florida since Singh’s crash. But other states are taking similar steps. From Sept. 22 to 25, ICE and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol apprehended 91 undocumented individuals charged with operating commercial trucks while having received commercial licenses, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The arrests were made as part of ICE’s 287(g) program, which authorizes local police officers to perform certain actions for federal immigration authorities. “ICE’s 287(g) program demonstrates that federal and local law enforcement working as partners can effectively identify and remove criminal aliens from America’s cities and communities, restoring a sense of safety for its citizens,” ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan said. “Illegal aliens have no business driving eighteen-wheelers on America’s highways. “We invite other agencies to join the program.”
The Safer Truckers Act of 2025 was introduced in September by Florida Senator Ashley Moody. Commercial driver’s licenses would be restricted in the bill to United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, and those who are specifically authorized to work in this country as commercial drivers.
“If you’re a commercial truck driver in America, being able to read road signs in English isn’t optional—it’s the job,” Moody said on “Fox & Friends.”
Immigration lawyer Alfredo Lozano, who is based in Texas, cautioned that Moody’s plan would exclude qualified drivers. “These drivers cross the border from another country legally on a B1/B2 visa, but this law wouldn’t let them do so because only residents and citizens would be able to have a commercial license,” he said.
Immigrant rights groups have opposed the bill, while many opponents of illegal immigration, such as the Florida Trucking Association, support it. The American Trucking Association has also endorsed the Secretary Duffy proposal to strengthen English requirements. But Lozano argues that the law would hurt more than it helps the industry.
“There’s no need to swat a fly with a hammer,” he said. “This bill would penalize companies that rely on foreign drivers from Mexico and Canada to deliver imported goods.”
Thirty percent of semi-truck crashes involve injury, and 3 percent lead to fatalities, according to government data from 2022. Those would become stronger under President Biden’s administration, which is pursuing tougher road safety rules after highway deaths in 2021 rose to the highest level since 2005. But federal data do not support any relation between foreign-born drivers and higher crash rates.
It’s not clear how much money and manpower Florida is devoting to assessing truckers’ English abilities. Federal guidance for these tests is an interview and a road sign recognition test. Yet many immigrant truckers continue to be concerned about being pulled over or deported, even if they hold valid licenses.
“Targeting cordial, hardworking truck drivers hurts all of us,” said Adriana Rivera, the Florida Immigrant Coalition communications director. “Truckers are the lifeblood of our economy—they haul food, medicine, and supplies across our country.
“There’s no capacity to actually measure if the crackdown is resulting in more safety on our roads or these egregious acts that we’re hearing about,” Rivera said.
“Rather than erecting walls, Florida should recognize the valid licenses of drivers from other states who have already received rigorous training and demonstrated their ability to handle a vehicle in a safe manner,” she said. “That’s what we do in order to support commerce, remove red tape, and recognize the vital workers who are working hard for our country,” he added.
Author Profile
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Ahsan Ali is a technology and business journalist who covers the latest developments in autonomous vehicles and innovative startups.
With a sharp eye for industry trends, he breaks down complex tech stories into clear, engaging insights for general readers.
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