Legislation proposed this week in the U.S. Senate would require applicants for commercial driver’s licenses in the United States to be legal citizens with valid Social Security numbers.
The amendment, proposed Wednesday, Sept. 13, by U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor (D.-Ark.), would require the Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security to work together to address foreign truck drivers working in the United States illegally. The legislation would require the agencies to develop clear rules within one year.
Pryor says many truck drivers legally cross the border from Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement. He says, however, that some drivers aren’t properly licensed and don’t obey other driving rules, and that jobs are being taken from U.S. drivers.
