❓WHAT HAPPENED: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a pause on worker visas for commercial drivers after an illegal immigrant trucker allegedly caused a fatal crash in Florida.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Marco Rubio, Harjinder Singh, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
📍WHEN & WHERE: The crash occurred in Fort Pierce, Florida. Singh was extradited from California; investigations span multiple states.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.” – Marco Rubio
🎯IMPACT: The move highlights concerns over public safety and the legality of commercial driver licensing for foreign workers.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday that foreign worker visas for commercial drivers would be paused “effective immediately.” The move follows a deadly incident where an illegal immigrant truck driver engaged in an unlawful U-turn, causing a crash that killed three people in Florida. Rubio cited public safety concerns as the primary reason for the decision.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” the Secretary of State wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) late Thursday.
The fatal crash involved Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant driving a commercial truck with a trailer on the Florida Turnpike in Fort Pierce. Authorities say Singh attempted a U-turn in an unauthorized area, causing the trailer to jackknife and collide with a minivan, killing all three passengers inside. Investigations revealed that Singh had not passed English or road tests before obtaining a commercial driver’s license, answering only two of 12 questions correctly in an English Language Proficiency test, and misidentifying three of four road traffic signs.
ICYMI🚨: Truck driver Harjinder Singh, who illegally entered the U.S. via the southern border in 2018, caused a fatal crash by making an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike, resulting in the deaths of three Americans.
He faces three counts of vehicular homicide. Singh obtained… pic.twitter.com/SDSwEnqkyg
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) August 17, 2025
Singh was granted a full-term commercial driver’s license in Washington in July 2023, despite not being legally eligible. He also held a limited-term commercial driver’s license in California in 2024.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have since engaged in a dispute over Singh’s licensing, with Newsom’s office falsely claiming Singh obtained a work permit during President Donald J. Trump‘s first term. However, DHS has clarified that Singh was denied in September 2020 under Trump but granted a permit in June 2021 under the Biden government.
“Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine,” commented DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, adding: “How many more innocent people must die before Gavin Newsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public?
Singh has been extradited to Florida from California and faces three counts of vehicular homicide.
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