FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—A fully loaded semi-truck barreling down the interstate is like a 40-ton projectile on 18 wheels. In the hands of an untrained driver, it becomes a potential weapon, according to Richard, a truck driver from Oklahoma.
“They don’t stop on a dime, I’ll tell you that,” Richard said as he walked into the Little America truck stop off the I-40 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Richard, bearded with long hair and a bandana, said he hasn’t been driving long. But like other truckers, he’s already seen plenty of foreign drivers behind the wheel of these huge trucks.
He doesn’t know who has had proper training and who hasn’t. What he does know is that he paid $4,300 for a six-week truck driving course where he learned the fundamentals of road safety.
“Some people struggled with it. But it’s very thorough,” Richard, who didn’t want his last name used, told The Epoch Times.
Like growing numbers in the trucking industry, Richard is concerned, applauding a recent undercover effort to get illegal immigrant truck drivers off the road and out of his home state.
Some of these drivers were “No Name Given” commercial license holders, meaning they are people from other countries certified without showing proper ID.
Such loopholes are now in the crosshairs of the Department of Transportation (DOT) following a federal review that found that some states have issued licenses to foreign drivers in error, and after a recent series of deadly crashes involving foreign drivers.
A recent study by the trucking magazine Overdrive found there are about 60,000 active “non-domicile” commercial license holders who work but do not live in the United States.
The study was based on a detailed check of records in all 50 states.
On Sept. 29, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said that more than 125 illegal immigrants were caught during Operation Guardian, a focused three-day effort by state and federal immigration officers along I-40 in western Oklahoma.
Most of the people arrested during the operation came from countries such as India, Uzbekistan, China, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Mauritania.
The operation stopped several illegal immigrants using truck driver’s licenses given out by states that shield those who are in the United States illegally.
After several fatal accidents involving illegal immigrant truck drivers since January—including one in Florida that killed three people—the federal government has launched new measures to prevent similar tragedies.
On Sept. 26, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced emergency rules that will make it harder for about 200,000 drivers to obtain commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) if they do not live in the United States.
The rule took effect immediately after a nationwide review by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and a recent series of deadly crashes involving non-domiciled foreign drivers.
The review found that some states have issued licenses to foreign drivers in error.
It also showed that the current rules may not work, even when people follow them.
A nationwide FMCSA audit of non-domiciled CDLs found widespread noncompliance in several states, with California showing the most serious issues.
The agency found that lack of supervision, insufficient training, and computer program mistakes led to many non-domiciled CDLs being given to drivers who should not have received them, including some whose permission to be in the United States had expired.
The review found that in California, more than 25 percent of non-domiciled CDLs were given out in error.
In a Sept. 26 letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Director Steven Gordon, the FMCSA said if the state does not fix the problem soon, the agency may also take away approval for the state’s commercial driver’s license program.
California has temporarily stopped giving out certain commercial driving permits and licenses to people who do not have full legal status in the United States while it reviews the DOT’s Oct. 15 notice.
—Allan Stein; Stacy Robinson
BOOKMARKS
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was walking back plans to send federal agents into San Francisco. “I spoke to Mayor [Daniel] Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around,” Trump said on social media.
Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons said this week that New York City will soon see an increase in immigration arrests. New York will be the focus because “so many criminals and illegal aliens that have been released in New York, specifically,” he said during an interview on Fox News.
Trump announced plans for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House earlier this year. The good news is that the $300 million project is being funded by private donations, and the administration has released the donor list.
A group of prominent individuals, led by the Future of Life Institute, has called for a ban on the development of “superintelligent” AI. Process the data by reading Andrew Moran’s latest report.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is endorsing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his mayoral race against Zohran Mamdani. “We all agree that Zohran is the No.1 threat to our city,” Adams said on Sept. 22 on the “Sid & Friends in the Morning” talk show on 77 WABC radio network.
—Stacy Robinson
