Florida cracks down on out-of-state immigrant truck drivers following deadly turnpike crash

In light of a deadly crash involving a semi-truck making an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, a tragedy that claimed the lives of three people, state officials are ramping up pressure on the federal government and tightening enforcement at Florida’s borders.Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to revoke funding and commercial driver’s license programs in California and Washington, calling them as “liabilities” due to their licensing policies for undocumented immigrants.“It’s hard to imagine a situation where somebody who doesn’t speak English can actually go through one of these exams and receive, you know, the necessary authorization,” Uthmeier said. “If you can’t read street signs, how are you going to drive large commercial vehicles, 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers in a safe manner?”In addition to urging federal revocation of CDL support in those states, Uthmeier is supporting the Florida Department of Agriculture and state law enforcement to increase inspections at highway entry points, targeting immigrants driving trucks with out-of-state licenses.Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News “We’re here to support the initiatives from our state government as well as our president,” said Rick Lee Adams, colonel with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “But also we’re here to protect the state, and we’ll continue to do everything in our power to keep Florida safe.”Immigration-related inspections at truck weigh stations are not new, but officials say they are now enforcing English-language requirements more closely — rules that have long been on the books with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.“They’ve been around for many years,” said Al Hanley, chief operating officer of The CDL School. “Most recently, they began kind of screening and enforcing the English language proficiency rule that’s frankly been on the books with the FMCSA for a number of years.”Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.Dan Horvath, the chief operating officer for the American Trucking Association, explained the process of the checkpoint.”The guidance that was issued by the Department of Transportation earlier this year, the first part being, can you have a general conversation with the roadside inspector? basic things that the driver should be able to talk about. The second part is actually identifying road signs and being able to explain what that roadside sign is and what that means,” Horvath said. Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced that they will pause issuing CDLs to foreign truck drivers.This temporary suspension affects three visa categories: H-2B visa for temporary workersE-2 visa for investors in U.S. businessEB-3 visas – this one is for skilled workers –health care professionals and tradespeople. According to the Associated Press, data shows that only a small portion of the 3.5 million commercial truck drivers in the U.S. are foreign nationals under these visas. This fiscal year, about 1,500 visas were issued, and last year, about 1,400 were issued. “As far as I understand, they only allow 60,000 visas per year, and the company has to go through a fairly involved approval and vetting process. In our program, we typically don’t see those, those are typically sponsored by the employer, I guess, recognizes their home country’s licenses,” Hanley said. Rubio said this pause is effective immediately. Currently, there is some form of truck driver shortage, but to industry leaders and authorities, putting qualified drivers on the road is more important.Top Headlines:Impact storms for South Florida late Monday

, Fla. —

In light of a deadly crash involving a semi-truck making an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, a tragedy that claimed the lives of three people, state officials are ramping up pressure on the federal government and tightening enforcement at Florida’s borders.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to revoke funding and commercial driver’s license programs in California and Washington, calling them as “liabilities” due to their licensing policies for undocumented immigrants.

“It’s hard to imagine a situation where somebody who doesn’t speak English can actually go through one of these exams and receive, you know, the necessary authorization,” Uthmeier said. “If you can’t read street signs, how are you going to drive large commercial vehicles, 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers in a safe manner?”

In addition to urging federal revocation of CDL support in those states, Uthmeier is supporting the Florida Department of Agriculture and state law enforcement to increase inspections at highway entry points, targeting immigrants driving trucks with out-of-state licenses.

Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News

“We’re here to support the initiatives from our state government as well as our president,” said Rick Lee Adams, colonel with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “But also we’re here to protect the state, and we’ll continue to do everything in our power to keep Florida safe.”

Immigration-related inspections at truck weigh stations are not new, but officials say they are now enforcing English-language requirements more closely — rules that have long been on the books with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

“They’ve been around for many years,” said Al Hanley, chief operating officer of The CDL School. “Most recently, they began kind of screening and enforcing the English language proficiency rule that’s frankly been on the books with the FMCSA for a number of years.”

Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.

Dan Horvath, the chief operating officer for the American Trucking Association, explained the process of the checkpoint.

“The guidance that was issued by the Department of Transportation earlier this year, the first part being, can you have a general conversation with the roadside inspector? basic things that the driver should be able to talk about. The second part is actually identifying road signs and being able to explain what that roadside sign is and what that means,” Horvath said.

Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced that they will pause issuing CDLs to foreign truck drivers.

This temporary suspension affects three visa categories:

H-2B visa for temporary workers

E-2 visa for investors in U.S. business

EB-3 visas – this one is for skilled workers –health care professionals and tradespeople.

According to the Associated Press, data shows that only a small portion of the 3.5 million commercial truck drivers in the U.S. are foreign nationals under these visas. This fiscal year, about 1,500 visas were issued, and last year, about 1,400 were issued.

“As far as I understand, they only allow 60,000 visas per year, and the company has to go through a fairly involved approval and vetting process. In our program, we typically don’t see those, those are typically sponsored by the employer, I guess, recognizes their home country’s licenses,” Hanley said.

Rubio said this pause is effective immediately. Currently, there is some form of truck driver shortage, but to industry leaders and authorities, putting qualified drivers on the road is more important.

Top Headlines:

Impact storms for South Florida late Monday