WSJ: Trump Admin Using English Tests to Crack Down on CDLs for Asylum-Seekers

As our own Just Mindy reported last week, it was a miracle that no one was killed when a semi was caught on video going the wrong direction on a highway in Missouri. The truck was driven by a Somali who was granted a commercial driver's license by the state of Minnesota despite not being able to read English. Others haven't been so fortunate — we've done a handful of posts on people being killed by immigrant truck drivers who don't seem to be able to read signs like, "No U-Turns."

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that as part of its crackdown on CDLs, the Trump administration is using an English test "to eliminate many foreign-born drivers and blocking asylum-seekers and refugees."

The Trump administration is cracking down on trucker licenses, using an English test to eliminate many foreign-born drivers and blocking asylum seekers and refugees https://t.co/hSGi0bwEMX
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 1, 2026

The Journal reports that over the past year, more than 10,700 truckers failed an English test, disqualifying them from driving. Esther Fung writes:

At the State of the Union address last week, President Trump called on Congress to pass a law banning any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally. He cited a multivehicle accident in California that severely injured a 5-year-old girl. The accident involved a tractor trailer driven by an asylum seeker who the Department of Homeland Security said was in the U.S. illegally.
For months, the administration has been tightening the rules, starting with stepped-up enforcement of English-proficiency requirements for truckers.
“A driver who cannot sufficiently read or speak English—our national language—and understand road signs is unqualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle in America,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last year.
The U.S. requires a commercial driver to read, speak and comprehend English at a basic level to adequately communicate with law enforcement and the public in case of an emergency.

I spent a lot of money on trucking school and jumped through all the hoops to obtain my CDL. We resent people coming here and basically being given a free CDL. companies like this because the foreigners will drive those miles for half the money that would normally prevail.
— Rob Smith (@robsmith46) March 1, 2026

Why is this a bad thing? Tell it to me like I'm a 4 year old so there's zero miscommunication.
— Eluna177 (@Eluna1771) March 2, 2026

Imagine denying someone a CDL just because they can't read enough English to read road signs.

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Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.

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