Indian Officials Call For Intervention After US Blocks Foreign Trucker Visas

Two weeks ago an illegal alien truck driver of Indian origin reportedly killed three people after making an illegal U-turn on a Florida turnpike.  It’s not the first time such negligence has occurred on the part of migrant drivers but this particular event struck a nerve, causing a public uproar and bringing all foreign trucker visas into question.

After the incident the United States is immediately pausing the issuance of all worker visas for commercial truck drivers, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.

“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,” Rubio said. The Trump Administration has taken a series of steps to address concerns about foreign truck drivers, specifically those who do not speak English.

Harjinder Singh, 28, faces three charges of vehicular homicide and up to 45 years in prison.  Since his arrest, 2.2 million people have signed a Change.org petition calling for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to commute Singh’s sentence if he gets convicted.  The majority of the signatures appear to come from Indian nationals.  There are approximately 3.2 million Indian migrants in the US today.

In response to the federal halt on trucker visas, political officials in India have suddenly taken great interest in the situation.  Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday appealed to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to challenge the visa issue.  They took particular offense to the requirement that migrant truck drivers be required to speak English.

Indian politician Harsimrat Kaur Badal asks the country’s foreign minister to intervene in U.S. politics to protect Sikh truck drivers in America after Harjinder Singh’s arrest. She is particularly incensed by the requirement that truckers speak English pic.twitter.com/xizAhf1zou

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Writing to the external affairs minister, Harsimrat said due to this decision, there was an apprehension that a large number of Punjabis, who were in the trucking industry, may be forced to leave the United States.

“Around 1.5 lakh Punjabi and Sikh drivers make up 20% of the US trucking industry. Any mass level action against them would have a detrimental effect on trucking families and would be discriminatory in nature, considering the fact that Punjabis have built and sustained trucking logistics and trucking networks over decades.” 

The politician appears to greatly overestimate her country’s migrant contributions to the US trucking industry.  All foreign born drivers together make up around 18% of the US trucking fleet.  Only 4% of drivers are from India.  The situation changes in California, where mass immigration is subsidized and migrant truckers make up nearly half of all those employed in the state.  

The claim is that California is suffering from a labor shortage.  In reality, California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US with over 1.07 million people looking for jobs. The reason trucking companies search for migrant workers is because they take up to 20%- 30% less pay, not because the companies can’t find native born drivers. 

Why are Indian migrants willing to work for less?  Because US dollars are a purchasing powerhouse back in India.  For $600 US per month an Indian can live the high life anywhere outside of Mumbai or Delhi.  A “luxury lifestyle” costs upwards of $1000 per month.

Just as we have seen with illegal migrants coming from south of the border, a vast amount of cash is transferred by workers back to their home countries.  Remember when Mexico’s socialist president, Claudia Sheinbaum, made threats over a possible increase in US taxes on remittances?  Remittances in US dollars are the largest source of foreign income pouring into Mexico. 

It’s a scam that has been running for decades, with numerous foreign governments encouraging illegal immigration as a means to siphon money from the US and transfer it into third world economies.  India, for example, is the largest recipient of remittances from the US in the world.  Without feeding on remittances from America, India loses out on over $140 billion (around 30% of their annual tax revenues).  Without this cash, India’s economy would implode. 

This is the real reason why foreign governments are so insistent when intruding on US immigration policy.

In the case of US work visas, all American jobs should be offered to Americans first.  Only when it is confirmed that there aren’t enough unemployed native born workers to support a particular industry should those jobs be offered to foreigners.  And, speaking English should be a bare minimum requirement.

There is simply no point in taking a risk on a single migrant if these jobs can be filled by Americans.