Florida Launches Immigration Checks at Weigh Stations
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Florida law enforcement will begin asking commercial truck drivers about their immigration status during inspections at highway weigh stations after a turnpike crash killed three people earlier this month.
State Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and state Attorney General James Uthmeier, flanked by a U.S. Border Patrol agent and several state law enforcement officials, said Monday that the new inspections were prompted by the fatal crash caused after Harjinder Singh, a 28-year-old Indian national, made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike.
“If you come through these inspection stations and you are an illegal or breaking the law you will be handed over to our local or federal law enforcement partners,” Simpson said.
The move marks another step by Florida in its quest under Governor Ron DeSantis to lead in helping President Donald Trump’s pledge to carry out the country’s largest ever deportation effort. The state requires most state and county police to participate in federal immigration enforcement.
Beyond Highway Patrol, Simpson said nearly 300 Agriculture Department law enforcement officers, known as Ag Law, have been trained to enforce federal immigration laws under the 287(g) partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Singh crossed the border illegally in 2018 and was later issued a work permit by the federal government, according to the administration. He was issued a federal work permit, as well as a commercial driver license in both California and Washington state, though Florida officials have said he failed an English proficiency test required for commercial truck drivers.
Singh was arrested in California days after the crash and escorted back to Florida where he faces criminal charges and eventual deportation. His brother, a passenger in the truck at the time of the crash, has also been arrested on civil immigration charges, according to the Department of 91Ƶland Security.
Days after the crash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suspended the issuance of visas to foreign truck drivers. About 1,500 H-2B visas have been issued for drivers in the transportation industry during the current budget year, which started Oct. 1, according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Separately on Aug. 25, that hewroteto Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asking for an audit and potential decertification of California and Washington’s commercial drivers license programs.
Uthmeier said Florida already arrested another undocumented immigrant from Ecuador on Sunday in the Florida Panhandle who was driving a commercial vehicle and had a driver’s license issued in New Jersey.
Everglades Facility
“There’s no telling how many illegal aliens are in this country driving large commercial vehicles and putting American families in a safety risk every single day,” Uthmeier said.
DeSantis has become one of the most active Republican governors supporting Trump’s immigration crackdown. Last month, he opened an immigration detention center in the Everglades to house detainees to be processed and deported dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
On Aug. 21, a federal judge ordered the facility to cease operations, ruling that state and federal officials bypassed necessary environment regulations when the facility was erected within a matter of days.
Uthmeier is appealing the ruling and has vowed to keep the facility running.
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