(The Center Square) \u2013 Washington state was indirectly involved in an accident a little over two months ago on Florida\u2019s Turnpike when illegal immigrant semi-truck driver Harjinder Singh made an unlawful U-turn, causing a horrific crash that killed three people.<\/p>\n
On July 15th, 2023, Washington issued Singh a regular full-term commercial driver’s license. Asylum seekers or individuals without legal status are not eligible for this type of license.<\/p>\n
\u201cWashington State improperly issued the driver a full-term CDL,\u201d\u00a0Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy\u00a0wrote on X<\/a> on Aug. 19. \u201cAsylum seekers or illegal aliens are NOT allowed to receive this,\u201d adding that FMCSA will also investigate \u201cCalifornia\u2019s issuance of the driver\u2019s CDL.\u201d<\/p>\n FMCSA is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.<\/p>\n In the aftermath of that tragedy, several states are stepping up actions to ensure that truck drivers operating big rigs have obtained their commercial driver\u2019s licenses legally and are in the country legally.<\/p>\n On Monday, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, said she would introduce legislation to add more stringent English proficiency rules for commercial truck drivers, such that they can have a conversation in English and understand highway traffic signs and signals.<\/p>\n The Center Square reached out to the Washington Department of Licensing and the Washington State Patrol to inquire about the changes the state has made or is making to ensure truck drivers are legally licensed.<\/p>\n \u201cWashington state is currently working on compliance and is not conducting non-domicile CDL transactions at this time,\u201d DOL spokesperson Nathan Olson emailed The Center Square.<\/p>\n Olson wrote that on Sept. 29, FMCSA announced\u00a0new rules<\/a> for issuing\u00a0non-domicile CDLs.<\/p>\n