LIVE OAK, Fla. – Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy held a news conference Tuesday to announce formal action against three states for failing to enforce federal English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers.
Duffy was joined by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Chief Counsel Jesse Ellison.
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The event comes a day after Florida’s attorney general said on Monday that law enforcement officers will be stationed at some highway checkpoints to crack down on illegal immigration and check for English proficiency for commercial drivers.
During a news conference in Live Oak, Attorney General James Uthmeier announced law enforcement officers will be stationed at the agricultural interdiction checkpoints coming into Florida to ensure that people driving with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) are “equipped” to drive the vehicle.
“Making sure that people who do not speak English do not have these licenses and are not driving large commercial vehicles, putting American families on the road at risk,” Uthmeier said.
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Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Commissioner Wilton Simpson said all FDACS sworn law enforcement officers are now certified in the 287(g) program, and will be stationed at the interdiction checkpoints to work with federal and state partners on immigration enforcement.
The interdiction stations, which are different from the Florida Department of Transportation’s weigh stations, will serve as “critical enforcement points to stop human smuggling, fraudulent documents, and unsafe commercial vehicles,” officials wrote in a release.
The announcement comes amid an executive order signed by the Trump administration in April that reinforces the requirement of English-language proficiency for commercial motor drivers.
In the executive order, Trump contended the “requirement has not been enforced in years, and America’s roadways have become less safe.”
Uthmeier also announced he is sending a formal letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, urging the federal government to revoke CDL’s program authority and strip related federal funding from California and Washington following the deadly crash on Aug. 12 that killed three people in St. Lucie County.
“States like California and Washington ignored the rules, gave an illegal alien a license to drive a 40-ton truck, and three people are dead as a result. A preventable tragedy due to sanctuary state policies,” Uthmeier said.