30 People Died. The Loophole Was Known.

At least 30 people died in 2025 in crashes caused by non-domiciled commercial drivers who obtained their licenses through a gap in the system. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), while American truckers face national database checks covering DUIs, reckless driving, and crash history, states had NO ability to verify the driving records of foreign nationals.

All a foreign driver needed was an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). That's it. No background check. No driving history. An 80,000-pound big rig, handed over on the honor system.

What Duffy Did — And When

This didn't start last week. Secretary Sean Duffy moved fast, and the timeline matters.

May 2025: Duffy issued new guidance enforcing English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards, reversing an Obama-era policy that had quietly relaxed enforcement. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the old policy let drivers who couldn't read American road signs stay on the road.

February 11, 2026: Duffy finalized a rule — not a suggestion, a binding federal rule — barring unqualified foreign drivers from obtaining CDLs. Per the FMCSA press release, the rule specifically targets drivers who haven't been through consular and interagency screening.

As of May 2026: Duffy's team reports pulling more than 20,000 drivers out of service for failing basic requirements — including the ability to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement, according to Duffy's own testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee this week.

FMCSA Administrator Derek D. Barrs put it plainly: "If we cannot verify your safe driving history, you cannot hold a CDL in this country."

Dalilah's Law: The Legislative Piece

The regulatory action is one track. Congress is running a parallel one.

Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., introduced legislation that would codify the CDL ban into statute — making it much harder for a future administration to reverse by executive whim. According to The Daily Signal, the bill has been referred to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and is expected to advance to a floor vote.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is carrying the companion measure in the Senate.

The bill is named after Dalilah Coleman, who was 5 years old when an illegal immigrant truck driver allegedly ran a stop sign and severely injured her. President Trump spotlighted the Coleman family at his March State of the Union address. Duffy amplified the story again this week after a separate incident — an illegal immigrant truck driver arrested in connection with a hit-and-run near Sacramento — to demand Congress act NOW.

Economic Impact for American Truckers

Duffy said it himself before the committee. Removing unqualified drivers from the market tightens supply and puts upward pressure on wages for the roughly 3.5 million licensed commercial drivers in the U.S. — most of whom are American citizens who went through the full certification process.

The policy combines safer roads with better pay for legal drivers.

Quality-of-Life Initiatives

Duffy also launched two pilot programs in September 2025 during National Truck Driver Appreciation Week — both aimed at addressing conditions that have strained drivers for decades.

The Split Duty Period pilot lets drivers pause their 14-hour driving window for 30 minutes to three hours, giving them flexibility to rest when tired rather than pushing through. The Flexible Sleeper Berth pilot tests new rest-split configurations — including 6/4 and 5/5 splits — beyond the current rigid 8/2 or 7/3 options.

The DOT also announced millions in investments for expanded truck parking — a chronic crisis that forces drivers to illegally park on highway ramps because legal spots don't exist.

What Mainstream Media Is Getting Wrong

Most coverage frames this exclusively as an immigration story. It's not. It's a transportation safety and labor market story that happens to intersect with immigration.

The FMCSA rule isn't about deporting anyone. It's about a database gap that allowed states to be unable to check whether a foreign national had caused a fatal crash in another country.

Left-leaning outlets downplaying the death toll — 30 people in 2025 alone — are missing a significant public safety issue. Right-leaning outlets focusing purely on the illegal immigration angle overlook a broader point: this was a systemic failure in transportation policy.

Biden didn't fix it. Now Duffy did.

The Impact

The rule finalized February 11, 2026 directly affects safety on American highways. Thirty people who died last year cannot be brought back. The question now is whether this policy prevents future deaths.