The Trump administration’s crackdown on unsafe foreign truck drivers continues to build momentum, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Saturday announced three new initial rules from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to further enhance road safety. The rules will require all commercial driver’s license (CDL) tests to be administered in English, add an ID verification step to the new verification system the Department of Transportation (DOT) is implementing, and crack down on “chameleon carriers” that change their paperwork every time a safety issue arises.

“The debate really is, do you want well-trained, well-qualified drivers behind the wheel of a big rig driving on American roads?” Duffy argued. “It’s very simple. I think the answer is, every single American, no matter what your political stripes are — that’s exactly what you want.”

Just last week, an illegal immigrant from Kyrgyzstan swerved into an oncoming van and killed four passengers; the truck driver entered the country during the Biden administration through the CBP One app, and both the “sham” school that certified him and the company he worked for had been shut down.

In 2025, “non-domiciled” commercial truck drivers caused “at least 17 fatal crashes and 30 deaths,” according to FMCSA. In one instance, an illegal immigrant, who bombed his English proficiency exam but was granted CDLs by California and Washington anyway, attempted an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway and caused a crash that killed three people. Another “non-domiciled” truck driver triggered a multi-vehicle crash in an interstate tunnel in Wyoming, causing three fatalities and 20 injuries.

The latest rules follow a series of DOT actions meant to bolster big-rig safety. Earlier this month, the FMCSA issued a final rule to ensure that foreign drivers are properly qualified. It limited eligibility to certain visa types that undergo enhanced vetting, limited eligible paperwork, and mandated that states confirm the applicant’s immigration status before issuing a CDL.

“While U.S. drivers are subject to strict checks through national databases for past violations — such as DUIs, reckless driving, or crash involvement — states lack the ability to access the driving records of foreigners and illegal immigrants,” the agency explained.

Over the past year, the DOT has sought to increase truck safety from multiple angles. In December 2025, it removed 42 Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) from the list of approved devices for allowing drivers to fraudulently violate rules governing how long they could drive without stopping for rest. It also shut down more than 550 CDL issuers that failed to meet safety standards (nearly one-third the number of site visits) in states that outsource the process, as well as de-registering thousands of inadequate CDL training schools.

In January 2026, the DOT turned its attention to drivers, pulling 1,231 vehicles off the road in 8,215 inspections. It decommissioned 704 drivers, “including nearly 500 for English proficiency violations.”

Last year, the DOT focused its efforts on auditing state policies, and it found “glaring compliance failures” in states like California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. For instance, in California, which allows drivers to take the CDL test in 20 different languages, more than 25% of “non-domiciled” CDLs reviewed were improperly issued. As a result of those audits, the DOT revoked thousands of CDLs.

In his recent book “Faithful Reason,” Christian ethicist Dr. Andrew Walker used road safety regulations as an example of an everyday policy designed to protect human life. “We follow traffic laws because preserving life is good,” he writes.

But a commercial truck driver who cannot speak English cannot follow U.S. traffic laws, because he simply cannot read the signs. “Construction Zone,” “Wrong Way,” and “No U-Turn” convey important messages that are literally the difference between life and death.

“A person who purposefully and wantonly endangers others and themselves is not only engaging in a criminal offense; they are acting outside of their rational mind,” writes Walker. An illegal immigrant who climbs behind the wheel of a vehicle weighing between 10,000 and 80,000 pounds, without knowing how to read American road signs, is endangering others. The fraudulent training schools, cut-rate licensure outfits, and lax state regulators that allow him to climb behind the wheel are also endangering others. The Trump administration DOT is taking actions to prevent that, one step at a time.