It’s time to get unsafe, fraudulent truck driving schools off the road—but not by targeting legal drivers and immigrant-owned companies doing everything by the book.

The Department of Transportation recently announced that nearly 3,000 trucking schools could lose their certification for failing to meet federal training standards. While shutting down shady CDL mills is necessary, many qualified drivers and schools—especially immigrant-owned ones—are being caught in the dragnet.

This crackdown comes just months after tragic crashes caused by improperly trained drivers. But instead of fixing the system, federal agencies are also auditing immigrant-run firms, threatening to revoke licenses, and holding up work permits—even when the drivers have clean records and active status.

This is not safety—it’s scapegoating.

We call on the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and the Department of Homeland Security to:

• Focus enforcement on fraudulent CDL mills, not law-abiding drivers or businesses
• Create a fair appeal process for schools flagged in error
• Guarantee due process for drivers facing license revocation
• End discriminatory audits based on national origin or immigration status
• Work with industry and immigrant trucking associations to build a safer, more inclusive workforce.

Truck drivers of the Sikh faith and other immigrant groups make up over 20% of the U.S. trucking workforce, and up to 40% on the West Coast. These drivers move our freight, feed our families, and keep supply chains running. Targeting them based on fear, not facts, risks destabilizing the very system the government says it wants to protect.

Shut down fake schools. Improve oversight. But stop turning legal drivers into scapegoats.

AP Photo