Trump threatens some California, Washington, New Mexico funding over enforcing trucker English rules

California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars of federal funding if they continue failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.

An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn earlier this month found what Duffy called significant failures in the way all three states are enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

Truckers are supposed to be disqualified if they can’t demonstrate English proficiency and Duffy said the driver involved in the crash that killed three should not have ever been given a commercial driver’s license because of his immigration status. But the crash has become increasingly political with the governors of California and Florida criticizing each other and Duffy highlighting the Trump administration’s immigration concerns in interviews.

“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger.”

Duffy said California has conducted roughly 34,000 inspections that found at least one violation since the new language standards took effect requiring truck drivers be able to recognize and read road signs and communicate with authorities in English. But only one inspection involved an English language rules violation that resulted in a driver being taken out of service. And 23 drivers with violations in other states were allowed to continue driving after inspections in California.

He cited similar statistics for the other states with Washington finding more than 6,000 violations of safety rules during inspections, but only pulling four drivers out of service for English language violations. New Mexico has not placed any drivers out of service since the rules took effect.

Duffy said the states will lose money from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program if they don’t comply with the rules within 30 days. But he did not specify how much each state could lose. The states did not immediately respond to the proposed sanctions that were announced before officials start their day on the West Coast.

Three people were killed when truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on a highway, according to Florida’s Highway Patrol. He is being held without bond after being charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations.

A nearby minivan slammed into Singh’s trailer as he made the turn on a highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach. Singh and his passenger were not injured.

Diamond R. Litty, the elected public defender in St. Lucie County, said her office was provisionally assigned to Singh’s case during his initial appearance Saturday morning. A review of his finances will determine whether Litty’s office remains on the case.

Litty said her office will focus on the criminal charges against Singh, who is presumed innocent, but they will also work with an immigration attorney to determine how Singh’s status affects the case. After more than three decades at her position, Litty said she can’t recall a case that garnered more attention than this one.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Singh has been caught in the crosshairs of politics,” Litty said.

The Department of Homeland Security has said Singh, a native of India, was in the country illegally. So Duffy said he should not have been granted a commercial driver’s licenses by Washington and California.

California is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issues licenses regardless of immigration status. Supporters say that lets people work, visit doctors and travel safely.

But in addition, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office posted on the platform X that Singh obtained a work permit while Trump was president, which Homeland Security officials disputed.

Florida authorities have said Singh entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018.

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Associated Press writers David Fischer, Morgan Lee and Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.