A painful road accident occurred on August 12 in Florida, USA, in which three people lost their lives. Harjinder Singh, an Indian -origin truck driver, caused this accident. Harjinder suddenly took an illegal U-turn on the highway, causing his truck to get stuck in the middle road and came and collided with a minivan. This collision was so severe that three people in the van died on the spot.
Harjinder Singh is a Punjabi immigrant who crossed the US-Mexico border in the year 2018 and then obtained a commercial driving license in California. There is a law in the US, under which immigrants can also get driving license. But this incident has raised questions on the misuse of this law.
Storm in politics, trump camp active
This one accident has warmed politics in America. On 22 August, American senator Marco Rubio made a big announcement by tweeting that now the US will stop giving visas to foreign truck drivers. He said that due to foreign drivers, the threat on the streets of America is increasing and the jobs of their truck drivers of the country are also being affected. The number of Punjabi drivers in America is quite large. According to the North American Punjabi Trucking Association (NAPTA), about 30,000 Sikh truck drivers were on the streets of America in 2018.
Ban on visa: direct impact on thousands of Indians
Truck driving in the US requires H-2B visas. 1,490 such visas have been released for the budget of 2025. But now these visas can be banned under pressure from Trump Camp and Republic leaders. This will give water to the hopes of Indian drivers going to America. Many Punjabi drivers go from India to America and do driving work there. According to NAPTA, now their members are 1,400 who have around 9,000 trucks. Now the ban on visa can become a big shock for them.