For 15 years, Sumit Singh has hauled freight to and from Los Angeles ports and across the country.
For the first time, though, the Punjabi Sikh truck driver is now reluctant to leave the state. Three of his colleagues have been detained by immigration officers, and new trucking horror stories pop up in his WhatsApp group chat every day.
“Lots of drivers are scared right now,” Singh said.
Punjabi drivers say they are being harassed after the arrest of Harjinder Singh, 28, an Indian-born truck driver who allegedly made an illegal U-turn, causing an accident that killed three people in Florida.
The incident sparked online vitriol against the Sikh community and turned into a political shouting match about illegal immigration and the qualifications and testing of international truck drivers.
The Department of Homeland Security is blaming California, as the driver accused of causing the accident obtained his commercial driver’s license and work permit in the state.
According to the DHS, Harjinder Singh had obtained commercial driver’s licenses in Washington and California, despite failing an English fluency test. The U.S. Marshals Service said he entered the U.S. illegally through Mexico in 2018.
“Just because of one person, all the community shouldn’t be penalized,” said Sumit Singh, the driver. “Drivers don’t feel comfortable going on the road.”
He said he is hearing Punjabis are now targeted for impromptu English proficiency tests at highway checkpoints and weigh stations.
Most Sikhs are from the northern state of Punjab in India. Many sport turbans, which are often brightly colored and tied to cover their uncut hair. Their turbans and beards are important symbols of their faith and culture.
Singh is a common surname in the Sikh community, and none of the people mentioned in this story are related.
Thousands of Punjabi Sikh truck drivers and operators who form the backbone of American commerce are feeling threatened due to increased scrutiny.
Advocacy groups say there has been a spike in threats and safety concerns since the Florida incident.
Sikh-owned trucking businesses that were already battling a slowdown in the industry due to rising tariffs are now confronted with a new challenge. Drivers are unwilling to drive on interstate highways out of fear of losing their livelihoods due to enhanced checks.
There are around 750,000 Punjabi Sikhs in the United States. Of those, about 150,000 work in the trucking industry, with the majority based on the West Coast, according to Harman Singh, executive director of the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the U.S.
There’s a national network of Sikhs working in fields adjacent to trucking as well, from truck-stop Indian restaurants to trucking schools and logistics companies.
The trucking culture is so deep in India as well as North America, that it has spawned its own genre of Punjabi music. High-energy dance numbers with titles such as “Driver’s Life” and “Trucker.”
This is the toughest period in decades for the business, said Baldev Khang, 52, the director of finance and operations at Fontana-based Cargo Solutions Express.
His business has faced a cascade of adverse events: an overall slowdown in trucking due to increased tariffs, an extra 50% tariff targeting Indian imports, and now his drivers are being targeted because they hold licenses from California.
“A lot of drivers don’t want to go over-the-road,” Khang said, using a term that means jobs that require drivers to cross state lines. “They prefer a local job.”
Three of his Sikh truck drivers were arrested in recent weeks, Khang said. His firm operates 1,000 trucks delivering freight for Walmart, Amazon and others.
His Somali and Mexican drivers are also avoiding the roads, he said.
Just this week, five of his Punjabi drivers quit out of fear of being targeted. All of those who quit had valid work permits issued by California, he said, but were worried after hearing people with California paperwork were getting harassed in Oklahoma, Texas and Florida.
Another concern for immigrant truckers has been the English language proficiency test required for commercial truck drivers.
In late April, President Trump issued an executive order stating that truckers who can’t speak or read the language proficiently are unfit for service. The order said that understanding traffic signs, communicating with Border Patrol, or answering questions at checkpoints is necessary to keep American roads safe.
This issue resurfaced in public debate when the Trump administration said that the driver in the Florida accident failed an English proficiency test after the incident.
After the crash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a freeze on foreign worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
At Sikh places of worship in Stockton, the community has initiated English classes for truck drivers, said Raman Dhillon, CEO of the North America Punjabi Trucking Assn., which has 2,500 members.
Dhillon stated that the Commercial Driver’s License test system in California is flawed, and the lenient enforcement standards at driving schools have led to DMVs issuing licenses too easily to work-permit holders.
“You’re yelling at people right now. You’re yelling at the community right now,” Dhillon said. “Who allowed them to do that? It’s your DMVs. It’s your states.”
Even while batting for reform, Dhillon Singh criticized Florida politicians, including Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, for calling Harjinder Singh a “thug” and said the type of rhetoric surrounding the incident unfairly scapegoated the Sikh community.
In one instance, he recalled, a Sikh driver waiting at a truck stop was harassed, and when he called 911, the cops showed up and asked the driver to leave.
“They are throwing water bottles on the trucks. They’re throwing eggs on the trucks,” said Dhillon Singh. “This is all the byproduct of what Florida did with this case.”
Since the Florida case, the civil rights organization Sikh Coalition has fielded dozens of calls from Sikh truckers asking for help, some reaching out to gain access to language resources.
“We fully recognize that there is a need for common-sense safety measures to protect people on the road,” Harman Singh said. “And at the same time, what we want to do is make sure that roadside inspectors aren’t profiling Sikh and Punjabi truck drivers, for looking like they don’t speak English because of their visible articles of faith.”
The post California’s Punjabi truckers say they’re being harassed after deadly Florida wreck appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
