US govt pauses issuing work visas for commercial truck drivers after Indian man's deadly crash in Florida

The announcement was made on X by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers," he said.

He said: " The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers."

Haarneet Singh road accident

The US government announced the move just days after three people died in a road mishap that involved an Indian-origin driver, who was reportedly living in the country illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Harneet Singh, 25, an illegal immigrant from India, after an 18-wheeler he was a passenger in made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, causing a horrific crash leaving three dead.

"Harjinder Singh, Harneet’s brother, and driver of the truck, now faces three counts of vehicular homicide," the US Homeland Security said in a statement.

According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, on August 12, 2025, Harjinder Singh, attempted to make an illegal U-turn through an “Official Use Only” access point in St. Lucie County.

"By blocking all lanes of the highway with his truck, Singh caused a brutal wreck, instantly killing three innocent people and leaving Florida families shattered," the statement said.

“Three innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. 

The incident came to light and took a political dimension since Singh received the commercial licence and lived in California, a region run by the Democratic Party.

The political outfit has continuously opposed US President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The Trump administration even accused California Governor Gavin Newsom of the incident since the state issued license to Singh.

“How many more innocent people must die before Gavin Newsom stops playing games with the safety of the American public? We pray for the victims and their families. Secretary Noem and DHS are working around the clock to protect the public and get these criminal illegal aliens out of America,"  Tricia McLaughlin earlier said in a statement.