US freezes visas for foreign truckers
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the U.S. is suspending work visas for some foreign truck drivers, warning that they are “putting the lives of U.S. citizens at risk and the livelihoods of American truckers,” writes Associated Press.
Rubio's statement came after three people were killed when truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on the highway, according to state highway patrol.
A minibus crashed into Singh's trailer while he was performing a maneuver. Singh and his passenger were not injured.
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The Department of Homeland Security said on Aug. 18 that Singh, a native of India, was in the country illegally.
The crash quickly became politically charged, with supporters of Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, blaming California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, for the crash.
Both politicians may run for president.
According to the National Immigration Law Center, the Department of Homeland Security said: Singh obtained a commercial driver's license in California, one of 19 states that issues licenses regardless of immigration status.
"Three lives were lost because of Gavin Newsom. Because of California's failed policies," Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins said in Stockton, California, on Aug. 21.
Singh, who flew to California after the Aug. 12 crash, was arrested by U.S. marshals in that city.
DeSantis sent Collins to California to oversee Singh's return to Florida, where he faces murder and immigration charges. Collins and law enforcement officers escorted Singh onto the plane.
A Newsom spokesman called Collins' trip a "photo op" and criticized Florida authorities for allowing "a murder suspect to walk free."
The statement seemed less about road safety than a political move. A deadly crash in Florida involving a foreign truck driver has become a political controversy.
As for Rubio's announcement to suspend visas for foreign truck drivers, it appears that he is talking about only a few thousand of the roughly 3,5 million commercial truck drivers in the country.
The suspension affects those who applied for three types of visas, primarily H-22B visas for temporary workers, the State Department said on August 2.
About 1500 visas have been issued to foreign truckers under the program this fiscal year, up from 1400 last year, said Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
The program helped compensate for the shortage of professional truck drivers in the United States.
But H-2B visas are largely limited to an annual quota of 66, with drivers making up only a few percent of that number.
The other two visa categories listed by the State Department are E-2 (for people making a significant investment in a business in the United States) and EB-3 (for skilled workers such as health care workers, IT professionals, and skilled trades workers such as electricians).
The Independent Owner-Operators Association, a trade organization representing drivers, praised the administration for “exploring the myth of a truck driver shortage and continuing efforts to restore common-sense safety standards to the nation’s roadways.”
The association dismisses talk of a shortage and says there are plenty of truck drivers, but companies prefer cheaper immigrant workers.
Jerry Maldonado of the Laredo Trucking Association, a group representing 200 trucking companies on both sides of the southern border, was relieved when the State Department clarified Rubio's statement.
He said Mexican and Canadian drivers were working in the U.S. on B-1 visas, which allow foreigners to enter the country. Some feared those visas would also be suspended.
"That statement really scared some people, but I'm glad it's cleared up," Maldonado said.
The Trump administration and Florida officials insist their concerns are about immigration and road safety.
In recent months, the administration has taken steps to tighten English-language requirements for truck drivers because the inability to read road signs or speak English could lead to accidents.
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On August 22, the State Department announced that the government was beginning a review of how it screens foreign truckers, and “enhanced screening” would apply to those without valid visas.
"This is part of a game to show the voters who put Trump in office that he is doing his job every day to enforce immigration," concluded Jeff Joseph. "They are sowing fear and panic in communities because the roads are full of 'illegal' drivers."
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