English skills, safety concerns fuel support for Trump’s visa pause

By Clair McFarland | Cowboy State Daily

The Wyoming Highway Patrol and the state’s largest advocate for truckers said Friday that they support the federal government’s sudden suspension of immigrant worker visas for commercial truck drivers.

The Trump Administration paused the issuance of work visas for truckers on Thursday.

The head of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said it’s a good move, if it’s being used to vet truckers better for their skills and regard for safety. The Wyoming Trucking Association supports the policy change. 

The Wyoming Immigrant Advocacy Project’s leader, however, said it misses the mark – since there are recent signs of trucking companies overworking or otherwise taking advantage of immigrant truck drivers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.

“Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers,” wrote Rubio. “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 announcement follows an Aug. 12 commercial vehicle crash in Florida, for which a truck driver from India has since been charged in the deaths of three people.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver, Harjinder Singh, entered the country illegally through the Southern border in 2018 and obtained a commercial driver’s license in California.

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