Efforts to make it more difficult to receive a CDL took the national spotlight when President Donald Trump called for the passage of Dalilah’s Law during his State of the Union address.
The law refers to Dalilah Coleman, who was 5 years old when she was injured in a crash involving a tractor-trailer driven by Partap Singh.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Singh was operating a commercial motor vehicle on June 20, 2024, in California when the multi-vehicle pileup occurred. The crash resulted in Dalilah’s inability to walk, talk, eat orally or attend kindergarten as planned. She was in a coma for three weeks and spent six months in the hospital before her family could take her home.
Singh, who is accused of being an illegal alien, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August 2025.
Dalilah’s Law would prohibit states from issuing CDLs to undocumented immigrants.
“Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs to direction, speed, danger or location,” Trump said during his speech on Tuesday, Feb. 24. “That’s why tonight I’m calling on Congress to pass what we will call the Dalilah Law, barring any state from granting commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have been working for the past year to enforce English-proficiency regulations and to clean up the non-domiciled CDL system.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week that about 14,000 truck drivers have been placed out of service for being unable to speak English proficiently. FMCSA also issued a final rule that is expected to remove about 194,000 non-domiciled CDLs.
“Thanks to (Trump’s) leadership, we’re cracking down on dangerous foreign drivers operating trucks, enforcing English language requirements for immigrant big rig drivers, and we’re rolling out new rules to eliminate fraud in trucking,” Duffy said after Tuesday night’s State of the Union. “A critical part of this work includes passing Dalilah’s Law without delay.”
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association also expressed support for efforts that ensure only well-trained and qualified drivers take the wheel of a tractor-trailer.
“The president highlighted the tragic consequences of a preventable truck crash caused by an unqualified truck driver,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “For professional truckers, safety is not political. It is our daily responsibility. Ensuring that every individual operating an 80,000-pound commercial vehicle on America’s highways is properly vetted, trained and held to consistent standards is essential to protecting our members and the motoring public. OOIDA and the professional truck drivers we represent will continue supporting efforts at USDOT and in Congress to strengthen licensing standards and training requirements that will make our roads safer for everyone.” LL
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