Truck drivers play a critical role in driving the American economy, and there are approximately 3.5 million commercial driver’s license holders nationwide.
Approximately 9,000 trucking schools in the U.S. at risk of closure
Nearly 9,000 trucking schools, or about 44% of them nationwide, could be forced to close after a Department of Transportation investigation found that many did not meet federal requirements.
Fox – 5 Atlanta
Hundreds of thousands of truck drivers could be taken off U.S. roads under the Trump administration’s new aggressive enforcement and safety campaign.
President Donald Trump on January 24 drew new attention to his administration’s crackdown by highlighting the serious injuries suffered by Dalila Coleman, a young woman whose car was struck by a foreign-born truck driver who was speeding through a construction zone in California.
Coleman, who was 5 years old at the time, attended the February 24 State of the Union address as a guest of President Trump, who said he suffered from a traumatic brain injury and cerebral palsy from the accident.
“Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs,” Trump said in his speech. “That’s why tonight I’m asking Congress to pass what’s called Dalila’s Law, which would prohibit any state from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.”
The truck driver who hit the family’s car entered the United States from Mexico in 2022, was released by the Biden administration and eventually obtained a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in California, according to federal authorities.
Similar to regular driver’s licenses, states can issue CDLs to truck drivers even if they do not have legal permission to reside in the country. The White House recently warned states to stop issuing CDLs to unvetted foreign nationals, except for Canadian and Mexican truck drivers who routinely cross the border to make deliveries.
Who drives America’s trucks?
There are approximately 3.5 million licensed truck drivers in the United States, ranging from bus drivers to RV delivery carriers to long-haul semitrailer owners.
The Department of Transportation is also encouraging CDL and the states that oversee trucking to more aggressively enforce current laws requiring drivers to have English proficiency.
Earlier this month, a federal inspector general recommended closing more than 550 track schools after concluding that the majority were operating in a bogus or unqualified manner. Federal officials say there are at least 194,000 licensed motor carriers that could be affected by the crackdown on non-American drivers.
The 37,000-member American Trucking Associations trade group supports President Trump’s efforts to crack down on trucking and say tighter regulations will make roads safer for all drivers. CDL holders have strict time limits while driving and must undergo regular medical exams to ensure they can drive safely.
“We support President Trump’s efforts to ensure that only properly trained, fully qualified and English-speaking drivers are behind the wheel of 80,000-pound commercial vehicles,” ATA President and CEO Chris Speer said in a statement. “We stand ready to work with the government and Congress to advance policies that raise standards and keep our highways safe.”
Crackdown on immigrant CDL holders
The legislation, proposed by President Trump on January 24, would complement a series of regulatory and enforcement changes being implemented by the federal Department of Transportation, which oversees motor carriers.
Although CDLs are typically governed by federal laws and regulations, they are issued by states. Federal officials say driver and trucking schools have discovered loopholes in the existing system that allow some noncitizens to obtain CDLs without background checks on their driving records in their home countries. In other cases, truck drivers illegally obtained Mexican truck driving licenses and used them to obtain U.S. reciprocal CDL status.
Last summer, federal authorities ordered a moratorium on issuing CDLs to foreign-born truck drivers.
“For too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing system and wreak havoc on our roads. Today, this safety loophole ends,” Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy said in a statement.
Federal officials said at least 17 fatal crashes and 30 non-fatal crashes were caused by truck drivers in 2025, and the new rules exempt them from the CDL, which primarily affects drivers from countries other than Mexico and Canada, who often operate under a special cross-border system.
Last year, U.S. citizens or green card CDL holders were involved in more than 85,000 injuries and more than 4,700 deaths, according to federal statistics.
Sikhs critical of new approach
Critics of the president’s move say the aim is misguided. Noncitizen CDL holders accounted for less than 2 percent of large truck accidents nationwide last year, compared with nearly 4 percent for all CDL holders, according to federal regulatory filings.
Among the most vocal critics of the measure are Indian-born Sikhs, who make up about 150,000 members of the trucking industry, according to regulatory data. Tens of thousands of Sikhs have sought asylum in the United States during the Biden presidency, many crossing the Mexican border without prior permission.
In testimony to federal regulators, some critics also feared that the crackdown on foreign drivers would cause them to lose their jobs and homes in one fell swoop, leaving many truck drivers living in semis while raising freight rates from U.S. consumers.
The White House has repeatedly named Sikh truck drivers as a source of concern, including Harjinder Singh, a California-licensed truck driver who is charged with causing a fatal crash that killed three people in Florida on August 12, 2025. Federal officials said in social media posts that Singh is an illegal immigrant and does not speak English well enough to obtain a California CDL.
The US-based group Sikhs for Justice donated $100,000 to victims of the accident allegedly caused by Singh. The group is also proposing to donate $1 billion to the Trump Peace Institute as a condition of holding a referendum on carving out a Sikh homeland from parts of India.
