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Over 2,000 unqualified truckers and other drivers have been taken off America’s roads in a coordinated federal operation. Hundreds were unable even to speak English.
Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) ran from 13-15 January across 26 states and the District of Columbia.
Fox News reports, “Operation SafeDRIVE conducted more than 8,200 inspections that led to 704 drivers being taken off the road and out of service.
“About 500 of those truckers were penalized for failing English proficiency standards.
“There were 1,231 total vehicles stripped of their roadworthiness and 56 people were arrested, including several for DUI/DWI and illegal presence in the United States.”
“Operation SafeDRIVE shows what happens when we work together with our law enforcement partners to pull unqualified drivers and vehicles off American roads,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Digital.
“We need a whole-of-government approach to ensure the Trump administration’s strong standards of safety are in place to protect American families and reduce road accidents.”
At the beginning of January, Infowars reported that more than half of all commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued in North Carolina to non-domiciled individuals were issued illegally, according to a review by the Department of Transportation.
The review was part of an ongoing nationwide investigation into trucking licensing.
The DOT is now warning North Carolina to “fix their serious failures” and revoke illegal licenses, or miss out on $50 million in federal funding.
Since Trump’s return to office, there has been intense scrutiny on the safety of America’s roads, as a result of a series of fatal crashes involving foreign or nondomiciled drivers.
In one notable instance, an Indian national called Harjinder Singh was arrested for undertaking an illegal U-turn on a Florida turnpike, killing three.
Singh, who is in the country illegally, failed an English exam, answering only two of 12 questions correctly, and was unable to identify 75% of road signs. Despite his clear lack of proficiency, Was state issued him a full-term CDL in 2023, and California issued a second CDL in 2024.
Singh has pled not guilty.
In March of 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order designating English as the official language of the United States. The following month, he signed another Order directing Secretary Duffy to ensure truckers who cannot fail an English-proficiency test are prevented from driving.
“My Administration will enforce the law to protect the safety of American truckers, drivers, passengers, and others, including by upholding the safety enforcement regulations that ensure that anyone behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle is properly qualified and proficient in our national language, English,” Trump wrote in the April order.
“This is common sense.”
