Work visas for foreign truck drivers suspended after a Punjabi driver’s wrong U-turn kills 3

August 22, 2025

Jalandhar, August 22: Following a horrific road accident caused by a wrong U-turn by a Punjab truck driver in Florida, America has taken a significant decision. The US State Department has stopped issuing work visas to commercial truck drivers with immediate effect. Foreign Minister Marco Rubio has given this information on his social media account.

“Effective immediately, we are halting the issuance of all worker visas for commercial truck drivers,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote.

The growing number of foreign drivers driving large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering the lives of American citizens and undermining the livelihoods of American truck drivers.

Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.

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.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) August 21, 2025

Florida accident became the reason

Last week, a major accident took place in Florida. A video that surfaced on social media showed that the driver of a semi-truck suddenly takes a wrong U-turn on the road. At the same time, a minivan coming from the front collided with the rear of the truck and got badly crushed under it.

This truck was being driven by 28-year-old Harjinder Singh. Investigation revealed that he had entered the US illegally. In this accident, the 30-year-old man driving the minivan, a 37-year-old woman sitting with him and a 54-year-old man – all three died on the spot. The horror of the accident can be gauged from the fact that the van was badly crushed under the truck.

A wrong U-turn by Harjinder Singh has led to the US government immediately suspending visas for commercial truck drivers. This is the first time that an entire sector has been impacted because of one person’s mistake.

Punjabis rule the transport industry

According to the data, the number of foreign-born people engaged in the trucking business in the US more than doubled between 2000 and 2021 to reach 7,20,000. The growing number of foreign drivers is due to the demand for truck drivers. Earlier this year, a report by financial company Altline said that there is a shortage of 24,000 truck drivers in the US. Due to this shortage, goods do not reach on time and the freight industry loses about $95.5 million every week.

According to American news channel ASAM News, recent figures from June 2025 show that around 1.50 lakh Sikhs are working in the US trucking industry, of which about 90% are truck drivers. An old estimate of 2020 said that there are more than 30 thousand Punjabi truck drivers on US highways, making up about one-fifth of the total truck drivers.