WASHINGTON: The United States has intensified its crackdown on truck drivers who do not meet English language proficiency requirements.
The US Department of Transportation has announced that federal funding will be withheld from the states of California, Washington, and New Mexico until they enforce mandatory English proficiency standards for commercial truck drivers.
The administration of President Donald Trump has taken a tough stance against foreign truck drivers. Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an immediate halt to all work visas for commercial truck drivers.
In April, President Trump signed an executive order directing the enforcement of English language proficiency rules for commercial drivers across the country.
According to federal officials, over the past two months, at least 3,000 truck drivers have been removed from US roads after failing mandatory roadside English tests. The states with the highest number of removals include Texas, Tennessee, Wyoming, Iowa, and Arizona. Texas alone saw nearly 350 drivers taken off the roads.
The issue escalated further after an incident on August 12 in Florida involving a California-licensed truck driver named Har Jinder Singh. He was accused of making an illegal U-turn and colliding with a minivan, resulting in the deaths of three people.
Singh subsequently failed the roadside English proficiency test. Federal authorities labeled him an illegal immigrant on social media, stating that he should never have been issued a license.
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