States Must Follow Federal Safety Rules

Trump threatens cuts in funding to states that refuse to enforce trucker English rules

California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars of federal funding if they continue failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.

An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving an illegal immigrant truck driver who made an illegal U-turn earlier this month found what Duffy called significant failures in the way all three states are enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of President Donald Trump's executive orders.

Truckers are supposed to be disqualified if they can't demonstrate English proficiency and Duffy said the driver involved in the crash that killed three should not have ever been given a commercial driver's license because of his immigration status.

But the crash has become increasingly political with the governors of California and Florida criticizing each other and Duffy highlighting the Trump administration's immigration concerns in interviews.

“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger."

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