The US has immediately banned the release of work visas of all foreign truck drivers, which was made public by US Secretary of State Marko Rubio on Thursday. He described the move to ensure public safety and protect American workers’ jobs.
Rubio said, “The increasing number of foreign drivers running large tractor-trailer trucks is endangering American life and affecting the livelihood of American truck drivers.”
The decision has come in the order of steps taken by US President Donald Trump Administration to ensure strict adherence to the foreign truck drivers on foreign truck drivers. In April, Trump signed an executive order, ensuring that commercial drivers were proficient in English language. The order reversed the 2016 instructions that stopped the inspectors from removing the driver from service only on the basis of English violations.
Concerns about the issue increased this week, when a fatal road accident occurred due to a foreign truck driver in Florida. Transport Secretary Sean Dafi confirmed that the Federal Motor Career Security Administration (FMCSA) had started investigating the incident, killing three people.
According to officials, the driver Harjinder Singh, who is an Indian citizen, could not speak English and he did not even have the legal right to work in the US. Singh is accused of doing an illegal U-turn from an “only official use” entry point, killing three people sitting in Minivan. He is facing allegations of vehicle murder in three cases and has been brought from California to Florida.
Dafi warned that not implementing the standards of driver qualifications leads to “serious safety concerns” and increases the chances of accidents.