Federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says New Mexico State Police officers are partially responsible for a fatal semi-truck accident over 1,000 miles away earlier this month in Florida.
According to a statement first reported locally by the Albuquerque Journal, the U.S. Department of Transportation initiated an investigation after a truck driver conducted an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway, killing three near Fort Pierce, Florida.
Local reporting from WPTV found that the trucking company had been cited for safety violations 80 times in the past two years. Duffy announced that the federal investigation would focus on the company and driver, whom Duffy says should not have been eligible for a commercial license because of his immigration status. The Florida Highway Patrol previously said that the driver had entered the United States illegally in 2018.
DOT says that the driver was issued a speeding ticket by New Mexico State Police on July 3, 2025 but “there is no indication that an [English Language Proficiency] assessment was administered.” New Mexico has not yet begun enforcing ELP as an out-of-service condition, despite the requirement being in effect since June 25, 2025, says DOT.
According to DOT, the driver later failed the English language test conducted by federal investigators after the crash.
Duffy also blames Washington State and California for issuing licenses and permits to the driver.
“If states had followed the rules, this driver would never have been behind the wheel and three precious lives would still be with us,” Duffy said in a statement. “This crash was a preventable tragedy directly caused by reckless decisions and compounded by despicable failures. Non-enforcement and radical immigration policies have turned the trucking industry into a lawless frontier, resulting in unqualified foreign drivers improperly acquiring licenses to operate 40-ton vehicles.”