A bill recently introduced in the Florida Senate would, if passed and signed into law, require law enforcement officers to arrest truck drivers who are undocumented immigrants and transfer them to immigration officials.
It also includes a provision to require impounding those drivers' trucks and imposing a $50,000 fine on the vehicles' owners. Those owners could also be barred from operating in the state of Florida under the proposed new law.
The bill was introduced recently by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. It will be considered during the 2026 legislative session. That session begins in January.
The bill comes in the wake of a Aug. 12 crash on the Florida Turnpike in which three people died. The crash occurred when a driver of a tractor-trailer attempted an illegal u-turn, and a minivan collided with the trailer.
The driver of that rig, Harjinder Singh, a native of India who entered the U.S. from Mexico without documentation, received CDLs in Washington and California. He was arrested and faces three counts of vehicular homicide and possible deportation.
Singh's grasp of English has been called into question.
In a court appearance today, Singh pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He is being held in the St. Lucie County Jail after having been denied bail.
Since that accident:
- the state of Florida began using its agricultural inspection stations to check drivers' English language proficiency
- the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is conducting an audit of state motor vehicle agencies' processes for granting CDLs and CDLPs to non-domiciled drivers
- the U.S. Department of Transportation is conducting an audit of FMCSA's oversight of state agencies to ensure English language proficiency requirements are being met during testing for a commercial driver’s license
- Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced a crackdown on flaws in the system of issuing non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses and learner permits to foreign drivers
- the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance added lack of English language proficiency to its list of out of service violations
- an online petition seeking leniency for Singh has received more than 3.5 million signatures
