The Trump administration has ordered 270 commercial truck driving schools to shut down or suspend operations, citing widespread violations that left illegal immigrants and non-English speakers behind the wheel, a move officials say is needed to protect American lives.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the nationwide crackdown at a press conference in Detroit, declaring that 110 schools had been removed from the federal Training Provider Registry and ordered to “immediately cease all operations.” An additional 160 schools were suspended for failing to meet basic training facility standards. Duffy’s message was blunt: schools that train drivers who cannot speak English or fail to provide proper instruction have no business putting people on the road.
“If you’re here illegally and you can’t speak the language and you’re not well-trained, you don’t deserve to be in a big rig, driving American roads, endangering American citizens,” Duffy said, underscoring the administration’s focus on both lawful presence and public safety. He explained that the federal English-language requirement for commercial drivers “has been in place for decades” and was not created by President Trump, but has long been ignored by many schools. “We have schools that know the rule and still pass people through their school who can’t speak the language,” he said.
Duffy faulted previous administrations for allowing schools to “self-certify” their compliance with federal training standards, resulting in widespread abuse. “What we found is many of those schools don’t actually meet that standard,” he said. According to Duffy, data analysis showed the 110 schools ordered shut were “the greatest offenders,” with each having passed at least 10 drivers who were later cited by law enforcement for lacking English proficiency during roadside inspections.
Derek Barrs, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, provided examples of the dangers. At Platinum Plus Truck Driving School in California, 36 drivers certified by the school were later cited for English-language violations, and one trainee killed someone in Oklahoma. ASC Technical Institute in Texas certified 58 drivers later cited for the same violations, with one trainee reportedly running a stop sign and killing a local man. Barrs said the threat is widespread: “Every single one of these schools passed at least 10 drivers who were subsequently cited for lack of English language proficiency during roadside inspections by law enforcement.”
The administration’s action comes amid mounting evidence that unqualified and sometimes illegal immigrant drivers have caused deadly crashes. Duffy stated that 239 people died in crashes caused by truck drivers who did not speak English since the start of President Trump’s term in January 2025. The press conference highlighted the story of five-year-old Delilah Coleman, who suffered a brain injury in a 2024 California pileup allegedly caused by Partap Singh, described by officials as an illegal immigrant operating an 18-wheeler.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a former Oklahoma congressman and senator, said the problem is not isolated to one state. “By far, the worst abusers are in California under [Gov.] Gavin Newsom’s leadership,” Mullin said, but added, “It doesn’t just affect California. It affects our entire country.” Mullin described how federal officials put 107 trucks out of commission because the drivers’ commercial licenses listed “No Name Given,” exposing what he called a “systemic breakdown” in licensing controls.
Mullin placed responsibility squarely on the Biden administration, saying, “Because of the failure from the previous administration, from the Biden administration, they killed hundreds of people and unfortunately injured thousands.” He promised that the crackdown would not stop at schools, but also target employees suspected of accepting payments to help illegal immigrants bypass driver’s license and CDL requirements, including those “working... at DMVs, receiving payments from, sometimes, cartels that were wanting to move illegals... or their products.”
Officials painted a picture of a licensing system riddled with fraud, corruption, and even cartel involvement. Mullin said, “We found companies that are engaging in visa fraud... We’ve seen labor laws broke, financial crimes, drug trafficking, all associated with CDL businesses.” He emphasized that the crackdown would extend beyond shuttering schools to rooting out criminal networks that exploit the system for profit and endanger the public.
Andrew Ferguson, vice chairman of the anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance, called for aggressive prosecution: “If a school is giving out a CDL fraudulently, you need men with guns and prosecutors to find them, put them in jail, and make sure that they rot in jail.” He credited the partnership between agencies for the progress made so far: “That is why this partnership has worked so well.”
The Department of Homeland Security recently conducted a three-day operation in late July, removing more than 800 truckers from service for unsafe driving. Mullin reported that 36 truckers in that operation could not speak English. The federal government’s action is a response to what officials say is a persistent refusal by some states and private actors to uphold basic licensing standards, putting the safety of all Americans at risk.
States issue commercial driver’s licenses that permit travel across state lines, but the federal government sets and enforces the national standards. Duffy said the administration’s crackdown would not reduce the supply of qualified drivers. “We’re not gonna have a problem. We’re gonna have truck drivers,” he said, rejecting claims that enforcing the law would worsen driver shortages.
California’s role in the crisis was a recurring theme. Mullin and other officials charged that most of the licenses used by operators involved in cited crashes originated in California, and that state regulators under Governor Newsom had allowed the worst abuses. The Platinum Plus Truck Driving School, located in California, was highlighted as a prime example of a school that certified dozens of drivers who were later cited for English-language violations, with tragic results.
Officials did not provide the full list of the 110 schools removed from the registry, nor did they specify the timeline or legal outcomes for the individuals and companies implicated. But the administration’s message was clear: the days of lax enforcement and self-certification are over, and federal authorities intend to hold accountable those who endanger the public through fraud or negligence.
The Trump administration’s sweeping action against 270 trucking schools sends a signal that public safety and the rule of law are back at the center of national transportation policy. Duffy’s team is betting that enforcing longstanding English-language and training requirements, and rooting out criminal fraud, will save lives and restore trust in the commercial driver licensing system.
For taxpayers, families, and law-abiding drivers, this is a long-overdue course correction. When government ignores its own rules, the public pays the price, sometimes in the most tragic way possible.
Protecting American lives starts with enforcing the law, not making excuses for those who break it.
