Latest news with #SikhCoalition
The Herald Scotland
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
GOP lawmaker slammed for 'hateful' post about congressional chaplain
"This should have never been allowed to happen," she wrote. "America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it." Initially, Miller misidentified the man, Giani Surinder Singh of the Gurdwara South Jersey Sikh Society, as Muslim. Her X account later edited the post to correctly describe him as Sikh before deleting the comment entirely. Muslims are adherents to Islam. Sikhism is a different religion, the fifth largest in the world. It was founded in the Punjab region of South Asia. There are roughly 750,000 Sikhs in the United States, according to the Sikh Coalition. A spokesperson for Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Miller's remarks swiftly prompted backlash from Democrats and Republicans. "A Sikh prayer on the House floor--followed by a Christian prayer one week and a Jewish prayer the next--doesn't violate the Constitution, offend my Catholic faith, or throttle my support for Israel," wrote Rep. Nick LaLota, R-New York, on X. "Live and let live." Rep. David Valadao, R-California, also said he was "troubled" by Miller's post. Democratic leadership denounced Miller's comments, too. "It's deeply troubling that such an ignorant and hateful extremist is serving in the United States Congress," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote on X. "That would be you, Mary." Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@ Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Sikh Coalition to US Secretary Transportation, if Sikh drivers declared ‘out of service' for English language proficiency violation, they have path back to career once they improve English abilities
BATHINDA: Sikh Coalition, Sikh civil rights organisation, has sent a letter to Sean Duffy, Secretary US Department of Transportation outlining concerns with an executive order by US President Donald Trump administration on April 28, 2025, 'Enforcing commonsense rules of the road for America' truck drivers', detailing new English language proficiency rules for truckers. In its letter Sikh Coalition has desired to ensure that roadside inspectors do not profile Sikh and Punjabi drivers as 'looking' like they don't speak English; When Sikh and Punjabi drivers are subjected to roadside interviews, Coalition want to ensure that the inspectors assessing their English language proficiency do so fairly and objectively; And if Sikh and Punjabi drivers are declared 'out of service' for an English language proficiency violation, Coalition want to ensure that they have legal recourse to appeal the decision and/or a path back to their career once they improve their English abilities. The executive order states that proficiency in English should be a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers. They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers. Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo The order directs the department of transportation to issue new guidance to the federal motor carrier safety administration (FMCSA) outlining revised inspection procedures for ensuring compliance with the federal regulation requiring English language proficiency (ELP) among truck drivers. Sikh Coalition, which was founded in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, in response to a torrent of hate crimes, discrimination, profiling and bullying against Sikh community throughout the US. 'The Sikh Coalition is not opposed to common sense safety reforms—including the obvious fact that all truckers must have basic English language skills to drive safely in the United States. We are committed, however, to working to ensure that any new rules resulting from this order do not disproportionately or discriminatorily impact Sikh and Punjabi truckers', stated Sikh Coalition senior federal policy manager Mannirmal Kaur. For further context, President Trump's executive order overrides guidance put in place back in 2016. This guidance limited the ability of roadside inspectors to conduct English language proficiency interviews. It also disallowed roadside inspectors from declaring individual drivers 'out of service' for not being able to speak English sufficiently. The Department of Transportation is expected to roll out their new guidance by the end of June; we hope to engage them in a conversation about our concerns before then. In the meantime, we are working to update our trucker-specific 'Know Your Rights' resource to account for concerns related to this executive order and other policy changes, stated Coalition adding there are about 1.50 lakh Sikhs and Punjabis working in trucking industry, 90% of whom are drivers.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trump order removing truck drivers who don't speak sufficient English made official by DOT
Although he spoke English when he was enrolled in a truck driver training program, Kevinson Jean, a Haitian immigrant, recalled feeling self-conscious during his commercial driver's license exam. 'Sometimes I was afraid to pronounce something wrong,' said Jean, who covers around 100,000 miles a year as a trucker. 'I didn't want people to laugh at me.' He recalled classmates from Iran who didn't speak English fluently, but still passed their exams. 'Nobody could understand them, but they passed,' he said. They and other truck drivers will now be subject to roadside English proficiency tests. On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy officially signed a directive for his department to take truck drivers off the road if they are not fluent in English. The directive puts into effect an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on April 28. Trump's order changes the penalty for violations of the law, which for decades has required that, as a qualification to be a commercial motor vehicle driver, a person must "read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records." The Obama administration had relaxed the penalty from taking drivers off the road to being issued a citation. "We are issuing guidance that ensures a driver who cannot understand English will not drive a vehicle in this country. Period. Full stop," Duffy said in a news conference in Austin, Texas, the state with the highest number of heavy truck and tractor-trailer truck penalty reversal has drawn support from industry organizations who say it will improve highway safety. But there also is opposition from drivers and the industry, who have said the change risks sidelining a significant portion of the workforce without addressing core industry problems like pay, hours and trucker Trump issued his order, the American Trucking Association thanked him in a statement for "responding to our concerns on the uneven application of this existing regulation." The association named it its No. 2 concern in an April 10 letter to Duffy. Schools that fast-track training for commercial drivers' licenses was the group's top concern. Duffy said his department will review security procedures for awarding commercial drivers licenses, which vary state by state, and also review credentials of "nondomiciled" domestic and international truckers — those who are not residents of the state where they hold their commercial driver's license. "For too long, misguided policies have prioritized political correctness over the safety of the American people," Duffy said. The change has raised concern among drivers of Sikh and Punjabi background, said Mannirmal Kur, senior federal policy manager for the Sikh Coalition. She said there was a surge of Sikh and Punjab drivers from 2016 to 2018, and there are about 150,000 drivers of those backgrounds in the industry. Like other drivers, they also want safe roads for everybody, Kur said. But "we think there is a potential for discrimination in how that English language proficiency requirement is enforced." Trump's executive order raises questions over how state and local law enforcement officers certified as inspectors will decide who to pull over for an English proficiency test. "Is it someone who has an accent or maybe someone who wears a turban?" Kur asked. "Being ordered out of service could potentially be unemployment for the truck driver ... with potentially limited recourse." The group is awaiting more details on training and recommended that there be nationally standardized training for testing language proficiency. An analysis of Department of Transportation data by the Women of Trucking Advisory Board to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimated about 3.8% of the CDL workforce is limited in English proficiency. The industry has reported experiencing an increase in foreign-born drivers over the years, but drivers continue to be overwhelmingly white and male, according to the board's analysis. The number of large truck crashes and resulting fatalities and injuries fell in 2024, compared to 2023, and has been on a slide since 2021, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data. FTR Intelligence, which provides economic forecasting for the freight industry, reported that the FMCSA recorded about 15,200 English language proficiency violations over the two years ending in March, not all by the same drivers. Texas had the largest percentage of violations at 16%, but trucks with Mexican plates were 3.4% of the total. Jean said he expects the changed penalty will stop people who otherwise might have trained as truck drivers. 'It's already hard to get a job if you don't have at least a year of experience,' he said. 'Now imagine adding English fluency on top of that. It's going to take people a lot more time to find work.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- NBC News
DOT confirms Trump order to get truck drivers who aren't proficient in English off the road
Although he spoke English when he was enrolled in a truck driver training program, Kevinson Jean, a Haitian immigrant, recalled feeling self-conscious during his commercial driver's license exam. 'Sometimes I was afraid to pronounce something wrong,' said Jean, who covers around 100,000 miles a year as a trucker. 'I didn't want people to laugh at me.' He recalled classmates from Iran who didn't speak English fluently, but still passed their exams. 'Nobody could understand them, but they passed,' he said. They and other truck drivers will now be subject to roadside English proficiency tests. On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy officially signed a directive for his department to take truck drivers off the road if they are not fluent in English. The directive puts into effect an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on April 28. Trump's order changes the penalty for violations of the law, which for decades has required that, as a qualification to be a commercial motor vehicle driver, a person must "read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records." The Obama administration had relaxed the penalty from taking drivers off the road to being issued a citation. "We are issuing guidance that ensures a driver who cannot understand English will not drive a vehicle in this country. Period. Full stop," Duffy said in a news conference in Austin, Texas, the state with the highes t number of heavy truck and tractor-trailer truck drivers. The penalty reversal has drawn support from industry organizations who say it will improve highway safety. But there also is opposition from drivers and the industry, who have said the change risks sidelining a significant portion of the workforce without addressing core industry problems like pay, hours and trucker training. After Trump issued his order, the American Trucking Association thank ed him in a statement for "responding to our concerns on the uneven application of this existing regulation." The association named it its No. 2 concern in an April 10 letter to Duffy. Schools that fast-track training for commercial drivers' licenses was the group's top concern. Duffy said his department will review security procedures for awarding commercial drivers licenses, which vary state by state, and also review credentials of "nondomiciled" domestic and international truckers — those who are not residents of the state where they hold their commercial driver's license. "For too long, misguided policies have prioritized political correctness over the safety of the American people," Duffy said. Questions over enforcement The change has raised concern among drivers of Sikh and Punjabi background, said Mannirmal Kur, senior federal policy manager for the Sikh Coalition. She said there was a surge of Sikh and Punjab drivers from 2016 to 2018, and there are about 150,000 drivers of those backgrounds in the industry. Like other drivers, they also want safe roads for everybody, Kur said. But "we think there is a potential for discrimination in how that English language proficiency requirement is enforced." The change raises questions over how a law enforcement officer decides who to pull over for an English proficiency test, she said. "Is it someone who has an accent or maybe someone who wears a turban?" she asked. "Being ordered out of service could potentially be unemployment for the truck driver ... with potentially limited recourse." The group is awaiting more details on training and recommended that there be nationally standardized training for testing language proficiency. An analysis of Department of Transportation data by the Women of Trucking Advisory Board to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration estimated about 3.8% of the CDL workforce i s limited in English proficiency. The industry has reported experiencing an increase in foreign-born drivers over the years, but drivers continue to be overwhelmingly white and male, according to the board's analysis. The number of large truck crashes and resulting fatalities and injuries fell in 2024, compared to 2023, and has been on a slide since 2021, according to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data. FTR Intelligence, which provides economic forecasting for the freight industry, reported that the FMCSA recorded about 15,200 English language proficiency violations over the two years ending in March, not all by the same drivers. Texas had the largest percentage of violations at 16%, but trucks with Mexican plates were 3.4% of the total. Jean said he expects the changed penalty will stop people who otherwise might have trained as truck drivers. 'It's already hard to get a job if you don't have at least a year of experience,' he said. 'Now imagine adding English fluency on top of that. It's going to take people a lot more time to find work.'
Hindustan Times
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
‘English proficiency must for truckers': US Prez signs order
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating that truck drivers in America are proficient in English, a requirement that has raised concerns among Sikh advocacy groups who say it can have a 'discriminatory impact' on truckers from the community and create unnecessary barriers to employment. The executive order 'Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America's Truck Drivers' says that America's truck drivers are essential to the strength of the country's economy, its security and the livelihoods of the American people. 'Proficiency in English,' which Trump has designated as America's official national language, 'should be a non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers. They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints and cargo weight-limit station officers,' the order issued Monday says. 'Drivers need to provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English. This is common sense,' the order said. The order noted that the requirement has not been enforced in years. 'My administration will enforce the law to protect the safety of American truckers, drivers, passengers and others...,' Trump said in the order. Advocacy group Sikh Coalition said the executive order raised significant concerns for the Sikh community, which has a substantial presence in the American trucking industry. It cited estimates by The Economist, which had said in a report that approximately 1,50,000 Sikhs work in the trucking industry and 90% of them are drivers.' 'Our community has played a vital role in meeting the high demand for drivers and alleviating the stress of driver shortages on American consumers and the economy. Sikhs help drive—quite literally—the American economy,' the Sikh Coalition said, adding that it could have a discriminatory impact on Sikh truck drivers and create unnecessary barriers to employment for qualified individuals. Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said steps were being taken to rescind the 'dangerous Obama-era policy' that dismissed English language proficiency (ELP) requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers. In 2016, the Obama administration directed inspectors not to place CMV drivers out of service for violations of the ELP requirements.
