Trump targets immigrant-owned trucking companies — and 44% of U.S. driving schools could soon be wiped out

The Donald Trump administration is set to enforce major changes in the trucking industry. Reportedly, almost half of all trucking schools nationwide don’t meet federal standards — and are now facing closure. However, groups representing immigrant truck drivers worry that these new standards also exist to target them.

According to the AP, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy instead attributes the policy shift to the rising number of trucking accidents. He cited a recent Florida crash that killed three people, caused by an illegal U-turn, and pointed to “illegal and reckless practices that let poorly trained drivers get behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”

The Transport Department has already identified 3,000 driving schools and given them 30 days to meet training requirements or risk having their licenses revoked. Another 4,500 schools have been warned they will face similar consequences if they don’t preemptively comply. Out of 16,000 truck training schools nationwide, this new policy puts 44% of them on track for potential closure within a month.

There are obvious consequences to such actions. As the rushed tariff policy showed, when policies are shoehorned into place, the businesses that rely on these services day-to-day often bear the brunt. Still, the administration argues that reducing truck accidents justifies the move — especially if it also results in revoking licenses from immigrant commercial truck drivers.

This has sparked yet another standoff between the administration and Democratic governors, including frequent Trump targets Minnesota’s Tim Walz and California’s Gavin Newsom. Secretary Duffy has proposed restrictions that would make it extremely difficult for immigrants to obtain a commercial driver’s license. The courts have since put those plans on hold, prompting Duffy to threaten withholding $30.4 million in funding from Minnesota.

California, meanwhile, moved proactively. The state revoked 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants. According to the BBC, Duffy responded, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses.”

A large portion of the trucking community is Sikh — approximately 40% of truck drivers on the West Coast and about 20% nationwide. United Sikhs criticized the administration’s policy, saying, “Sikh and immigrant truckers with spotless records are being treated like suspects while they keep America’s freight moving. When federal agencies frame lawful, licensed drivers as risks, it doesn’t improve safety — it fuels xenophobia, harassment, and even violence on the road. Any policy built on fear instead of facts endangers families, civil rights, and the national supply chain.”

Research shows that many CDL training institutions offer crash courses lasting just over a week. Experts have compared these schools to mills that just prioritize pushing out as many drivers as quickly as possible — regardless of the trainees’ immigration status.

Andrew Poliakoff — who happens to be the executive director of the largest association of trucking schools in the country — said that many of these institutions are simply fleecing students out of their money. Poliakoff has since given them the undesirable moniker of “CDL mills.”