After a fatal disaster, Sikhist drivers in the US from fear

Trucks continue to roll on Highway 99 in California, the route comes to life with freight traffic through the Central Valley. And behind the wheel is often a casket of Sikhist, their cabins, decorated with religious symbols, portraits of Sikhist gurus or posters of Penjabi’s singers.

The Sikhs, a religious minority group from India, have become a large part of the American industry to transport this, helping to deliver everything from California strawberries to timber throughout the country.

But a catastrophe in Florida and its consequences sent trembling through the Sikhist community that could have economic consequences.

There are approximately 750,000 Sikhs in America, and about 150,000 work in the automotive industry, most of all as drivers. The role they play in this essential industry is obvious from the names of the doors of their trucks – Singh Trax, a Pendjabi truck – to the curry, serviced at rests on the West Coast, where approximately 40% of all truck drivers are Sikhists, according to the North American Association for the Penje.

Many have limited English skills, but years of driving.

This put some drivers in an uncertain position as the Trump administration has moved to tighten the language requirements for commercial engines. In response, many Sikhi temples offer language classes to help drivers pass their language tests.

“Many drivers stayed at home with fear of the new laws. We started class in mid -July to help them get back to work,” said Taepaul Singh Bainiva, who voluntarily dealt with a Sikhist temple in a hundredth, California.

In an English class at the temple on Sunday, several drivers practice the introduces and examined the signs of highways and regulatory signs. Many drivers felt shy to talk, but they were motivated.

Nainer Singh, a 51-year-old driver who has been working in America for eight years, says he has been conducting lessons at the temple in a hundredth because he thinks it is important to try to be a good citizen and obey the law.

“Sometimes the individual’s actions can cost the whole community,” he said, citing a fatal disaster on the other side of the country that glowed a rough spotlight on Sikhist drivers in California.

On August 12, Harjinder Singh, a truck driver born in India, made a reverse turn of Florida Turnpike by colliding in a minivan and killed three people.

The Department of Interior Security (DHS) claims that Harnder has entered the United States illegally from Mexico in 2018 and has received a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in California, although he has no legal right to be in the United States and fails to test the English language skills.

However, California officials say the federal authorities told them that there was a legal work permit when his state issued a driver’s license.

Now Hardzhnder is confronted with murder and accusations of car killing in Florida and a warranty has been denied. His agreement is planned for the end of September.

The crash has a pulsation effect on Sikhist drivers.

Two weeks after the Florida crash, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stopped issuing work visas for foreigners who want to become commercial truck drivers in the United States.

There is also an attack on a harassment against Sikhi drivers, they say to the BBC.

Raman Singh Drylon, CEO of the North American Penjabi Transport Association, said many drivers are now afraid of being targets.

“Sikh drivers are harassed at truck stops. In some cases, even local law enforcement agencies are not responding,” he says.

Although he supports Trump’s calls for more regulation of trade licenses, and the requirements for proficiency in English, Raman is concerned that harassment and increasing laws on immigration will impede the work of the Sikhs in the industry.

“The transport industry will soon face a serious shortage of drivers,” he said.

This is a concern shared by many.

Gurpratap Singh Sandhu, which runs a Sacramento -based transport company, reveals that his cousin, a driver of US civil trucks, was harassed last week in Florida only because of his ethnicity.

“People are shrinking on Sikhist trucks or throwing bottles of water at truck stops. They make fun of and harass. They call racial rumors such as” head head “and” towel “, referring to their turbans,” says Gurpritap. He is worried about his driver’s security.

Harassment directly affects Gurpratap’s business.

“The Sikhist drivers in my company are afraid to go to Florida, Alabama and Arkansas because of immigration and customs raids after the Florida crash,” Gurpritap said, adding that immigrant drivers were once welcomed as warriors during the pandemic background.

Arjun Setti, Professor of Law at George Washington University, said that social media accounts in the United States and India, as well as some politicians, used this tragedy to target the entire Sikhist community.

“This episode must be treated as the only, tragic event and should not be armed in order to focus on the entire Sikhist community,” Arjun said.

He also worries that rhetoric can lead to violence.

“For years, we have seen inflammatory rhetoric can lead to violence against the same communities. The Sikhs have already encountered this in the mass shooting of the Sikh bush in Wisconsin in 2012, which killed six Sikhs,” Arjun added.

The annual statistics of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2024 show that the Sikhs remain the third most tied religious group behind the Jewish and Muslim communities. Following the crash, US special envoy Richard Genell met with a group of Sikh representatives in Sacramento and boarded social media to declare verbal attacks on the Sikhs as “non -American” behavior.

Raman Singh Dcyon, CEO of the North American Penjabi Association, says there should be a proper investigation into how countries issue commercial driving licenses to persons who do not meet English language standards.

But so far, teaching English to drivers has been largely left to the members of the Sikhist community themselves, such as the language classes offered in temples in California.

“No one is interested in solving the main problem,” Raman says.

“That is why I believe that driving schools and public agencies need to be regulated.”

Harrinder Singh, a senior associate at the US -based Sikhist Research Institute, agrees. He says English proficiency is essential for ac and recommends federal and state governments, as well as truck associations to offer subsidized programs to help immigrants learn English as a second language.

Arshveer Singh Sandhu has taught English to Guru Nanak Parkash drivers for seven weeks as a volunteer. Its course – “English4truckers” – covers the main English, communicating with officers during inspections, ordering at restaurants such as Starbucks or Subway, calls 911 and explains the problems of mechanics.

The classes show positive results. Singh, a 38-year-old Sikhist truck driver, has been present since the start of the program.

“I have acquired confidence in my thoughts in English. Now I understand earlier confusing signs on the highway,” he told the BBC.