If the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrant truckers had a face, it would be Harjinder Singh. The Indian-born Singh was behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler in Fort Pierce, Fla. in August when he allegedly made an illegal U-turn, causing a crash that killed three people.
The Department of Homeland Security says Singh was in the U.S. illegally, though California Gov. Gavin Newsom contends he had a valid work permit when he applied for a commercial driver's license. Singh has pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide.
What's clear is that Singh's case has been a big story on conservative TV news, and prompted swift reaction from the Trump administration.
Within weeks, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced new regulations that would make it much harder for immigrants — even those in the country legally — to get commercial driver's licenses.
"The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely 100% broken," Duffy said at a press conference in September. "It has become a threat to public safety, and it is a national emergency that requires action right now."
There are too many foreign-born truckers who don't know the rules of the road, Duffy said, and don't speak English proficiently.
"We have people on the roads that aren't safe, that aren't qualified, that should never have a driver's license. And lives are lost," Duffy said at another press conference in October.
The Department of Transportation wants tougher regulations for commercial driver's licenses after a series of deadly crashes involving foreign-born truckers, stating that these are urgently needed to make the nation's roads safer.
However, the administration's critics argue there's no data to support this claim, despite a handful of high-profile crashes that have garnered significant attention from conservative media. They argue the push for tougher regulations amounts to an immigration crackdown by another name.
The Trump administration's crackdown is putting immigrant truckers in a difficult spot — particularly those who've been in the business for a while.