Truckers warn of 'foreign invasion' as DHS cracks down on illegal immigrant drivers

Truckers are sounding the alarm over illegal immigrants being granted commercial driver’s licenses, warning that relaxed licensing standards amid a nationwide driver shortage have created a safety crisis on America’s highways.

"Our American truck driver community, they have been complaining about the foreign invasion of their industry and the things they’re having to deal with on a daily basis," said Harvey Beech, co-founder of American Truckers United, on "Fox & Friends" Friday.

Both Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have taken aim at sanctuary states for allegedly allowing illegal immigrants to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. The crackdown follows several high-profile traffic incidents involving truck drivers in the U.S. illegally.

On Thursday, Noem announced more than 200 illegal immigrants were taken off the road as part of "Operation Midway Blitz." That included 46 semi-truck drivers and 82 migrants who drove other vehicles such as buses, box trucks or moving vans.

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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, center, speaks during a press conference in Gary, Indiana, Thursday alongside state and federal officials. (Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images)

She said the commercial licenses were issued in more than a dozen states.

"This has really exploded over the last five years," said Shannon Everett, another co-founder of American Truckers United.

"There’s been an effort across the industry to reduce standards to solve a so-called driver shortage. In doing so, they relaxed the standards for these driver's licenses to be issued, but only in certain states."

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Both Noem and Duffy have singled out states such as California, accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom of enabling immigrants in the country illegally to obtain commercial licenses. Duffy said federal officials are targeting "CDL mills" that issued commercial driver's licenses without proper oversight.

Everett urged the public to look closer at the trucking companies hiring unqualified drivers, many of which, he said, are based in sanctuary states like Illinois, New York and California.

"People would be amazed, the Americans would be amazed at how many new trucking companies are created each and every month and who is it that owns these trucking companies," he said.

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"The real question I think America needs to start asking in each one of these wrecks is whose freight was on the truck, and why are these shippers not being held responsible for loading people that can’t even speak English?" Everett added.

Renewed scrutiny over licensing standards follows a deadly Oct. 21 crash along a Southern California freeway, where 21-year-old Indian national Jashanpreet Singh allegedly drove a semi-truck while under the influence, triggering a multi-car pileup that killed three people.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced potential funding cuts for several states accused of noncompliance with federal trucking safety standards during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on August 26. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Newsom’s office has blamed federal policies for the incident and insisted California’s commercial driver’s license laws comply with federal regulations.

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"Lost in the immigrant-bashing is the fact that drivers holding a California-issued CDL are involved in fatal crashes at a rate far lower than the national average," a Newsom spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.

"If the focus were on safety, California should be a poster child, not a scapegoat."