“They may not care about keeping you and your family safe, but President Trump and I do."
minute read
The Trump administration is vowing to fight a lawsuit brought by 21 states and the District of Columbia seeking to block the federal government from accessing data officials say is necessary to identify unqualified commercial truck drivers, including illegal immigrants operating big rigs on American highways.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted the lawsuit Thursday, arguing that the states are attempting to obstruct enforcement efforts that have intensified following a series of deadly crashes involving illegal immigrant truck drivers. “Every administration since 1988 has had access to this basic database, so let’s be clear on what this ridiculous lawsuit is really all about. These radical state AGs want to make it harder for my Department to enforce the rules of the road and easier for dangerous illegal immigrant truck drivers to operate a big rig,” Duffy said.
“They may not care about keeping you and your family safe, but President Trump and I do. We will fight this lawsuit tooth and nail to prevent more senseless crashes by unqualified drivers.”
The lawsuit was filed one day after the first anniversary of the August 12, 2025 Florida Turnpike crash that killed three people. Indian national Harjinder Singh, who federal authorities said entered the US illegally in 2018, was driving a tractor-trailer when he attempted a U-turn through a median marked for official use only. His trailer blocked the highway and a minivan slammed into it, killing all three occupants. Singh was arrested on three counts of vehicular homicide.
The Florida case was hardly isolated. In Washington state, illegal immigrant truck driver Kamalpreet Singh was arrested in December 2025 after allegedly crashing his semi into a vehicle on State Route 167 near Auburn, killing 29-year-old Robert B. Pearson. Federal officials said Singh, an Indian national, had crossed the southern border illegally in 2023 before being released into the country. He later obtained a California commercial driver's license. Despite an ICE detainer, Singh was subsequently released from local custody, drawing condemnation from federal officials over Washington's sanctuary policies.
Another illegal immigrant truck driver caused chaos on a Washington highway days earlier. Juan Hernandez-Santos, a Mexican national who DHS said had previously been deported twice, was accused of causing a six-vehicle crash involving a school bus on I-5 in Lacey while driving an 18-wheeler without a CDL. Three people were hospitalized.
In California, Indian national Jashanpreet Singh drove a semi into slowed traffic on Interstate 10 in October 2025, triggering an eight-vehicle crash that killed three people. Federal officials said Singh had entered the US illegally in 2022. He ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and was sentenced in July to four years and eight months in prison.
The deadly incidents have fueled the Trump administration's crackdown on commercial licensing and driver qualifications. According to DOT, since President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting the trucking industry in April 2025, federal officials have revoked more than 30,000 improperly issued commercial driver's licenses, removed nearly 10,000 fraudulent or unqualified CDL training providers from the federal registry and placed more than 26,000 drivers out of service for failing English-language proficiency requirements.
The administration has also moved to close what it calls the “non-domiciled CDL loophole,” restricting the ability of unvetted foreign drivers to obtain commercial licenses.
The dispute now centers on access to the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS). The database is operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators on behalf of the federal government. DOT maintains that AAMVA is contractually and legally required to provide the requested records to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and that federal protections shield it from state-level liability.
At the same time it has moved to remove unqualified drivers, the Trump administration has proposed filling the industry's need for drivers by recruiting American military veterans through its new Freedom Haulers initiative. The interagency program, led by the White House along with the Departments of Transportation, Veterans Affairs, War and Labor, is designed to create a military-to-CDL pipeline and fast-track qualified veterans into trucking careers. DOT says veterans can receive up to 100 percent tuition coverage for approved CDL programs through existing VA benefits, while veterans with qualifying military heavy-vehicle experience may be able to bypass redundant skills and road testing.
The administration explicitly describes Freedom Haulers as building on its crackdown on unvetted truckers by replacing dangerous drivers with qualified military veterans. DOT says veteran truckers have 42 percent fewer accidents while driving 98 percent more miles than their counterparts, positioning the program as both a workforce initiative and an alternative to relying on improperly licensed or unqualified foreign drivers.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted the lawsuit Thursday, arguing that the states are attempting to obstruct enforcement efforts that have intensified following a series of deadly crashes involving illegal immigrant truck drivers. “Every administration since 1988 has had access to this basic database, so let’s be clear on what this ridiculous lawsuit is really all about. These radical state AGs want to make it harder for my Department to enforce the rules of the road and easier for dangerous illegal immigrant truck drivers to operate a big rig,” Duffy said.
“They may not care about keeping you and your family safe, but President Trump and I do. We will fight this lawsuit tooth and nail to prevent more senseless crashes by unqualified drivers.”
The lawsuit was filed one day after the first anniversary of the August 12, 2025 Florida Turnpike crash that killed three people. Indian national Harjinder Singh, who federal authorities said entered the US illegally in 2018, was driving a tractor-trailer when he attempted a U-turn through a median marked for official use only. His trailer blocked the highway and a minivan slammed into it, killing all three occupants. Singh was arrested on three counts of vehicular homicide.
The Florida case was hardly isolated. In Washington state, illegal immigrant truck driver Kamalpreet Singh was arrested in December 2025 after allegedly crashing his semi into a vehicle on State Route 167 near Auburn, killing 29-year-old Robert B. Pearson. Federal officials said Singh, an Indian national, had crossed the southern border illegally in 2023 before being released into the country. He later obtained a California commercial driver's license. Despite an ICE detainer, Singh was subsequently released from local custody, drawing condemnation from federal officials over Washington's sanctuary policies.
Another illegal immigrant truck driver caused chaos on a Washington highway days earlier. Juan Hernandez-Santos, a Mexican national who DHS said had previously been deported twice, was accused of causing a six-vehicle crash involving a school bus on I-5 in Lacey while driving an 18-wheeler without a CDL. Three people were hospitalized.
In California, Indian national Jashanpreet Singh drove a semi into slowed traffic on Interstate 10 in October 2025, triggering an eight-vehicle crash that killed three people. Federal officials said Singh had entered the US illegally in 2022. He ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and was sentenced in July to four years and eight months in prison.
The deadly incidents have fueled the Trump administration's crackdown on commercial licensing and driver qualifications. According to DOT, since President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting the trucking industry in April 2025, federal officials have revoked more than 30,000 improperly issued commercial driver's licenses, removed nearly 10,000 fraudulent or unqualified CDL training providers from the federal registry and placed more than 26,000 drivers out of service for failing English-language proficiency requirements.
The administration has also moved to close what it calls the “non-domiciled CDL loophole,” restricting the ability of unvetted foreign drivers to obtain commercial licenses.
The dispute now centers on access to the Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS). The database is operated by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators on behalf of the federal government. DOT maintains that AAMVA is contractually and legally required to provide the requested records to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and that federal protections shield it from state-level liability.
At the same time it has moved to remove unqualified drivers, the Trump administration has proposed filling the industry's need for drivers by recruiting American military veterans through its new Freedom Haulers initiative. The interagency program, led by the White House along with the Departments of Transportation, Veterans Affairs, War and Labor, is designed to create a military-to-CDL pipeline and fast-track qualified veterans into trucking careers. DOT says veterans can receive up to 100 percent tuition coverage for approved CDL programs through existing VA benefits, while veterans with qualifying military heavy-vehicle experience may be able to bypass redundant skills and road testing.
The administration explicitly describes Freedom Haulers as building on its crackdown on unvetted truckers by replacing dangerous drivers with qualified military veterans. DOT says veteran truckers have 42 percent fewer accidents while driving 98 percent more miles than their counterparts, positioning the program as both a workforce initiative and an alternative to relying on improperly licensed or unqualified foreign drivers.
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