Introduction to the Issue
When Donald Trump signed an executive order last week cracking down on truckers who don’t speak the best English, there was one industry expert I needed to call: my dad. Lorenzo Arellano drove big rigs across Southern California for 30 years before retiring in 2019. His six-day workweeks kept us well-fed and clothed and allowed him to afford a three-bedroom Anaheim home with a swimming pool, where he and my youngest brother still live today.
Background on the Executive Order
“Why does that crazy man want to do this?” he asked me over the phone in Spanish before answering his own question. “It’s because [Trump has] always had a lack of respect for the immigrant. We truckers don’t deserve this. He’s just trying to harm people. He wants to humiliate the whole world.” Federal regulations punishing immigrant truckers for their limited English dates back to the 1930s. Trump’s order calls for the enforcement of an existing requirement that truckers be proficient in English, overturning a 2016 policy that inspectors shouldn’t cite or suspend troqueros as long as they could communicate sufficiently, including through an interpreter or smartphone app.
The Impact on Immigrant Truckers
Conservatives have long tied that Obama-era action and the rise of immigrant truckers — they now make up 18% of the profession, according to census figures — to a marked increase in fatal accidents over the last decade, which Trump alluded to when he insisted that “America’s roadways have become less safe.” Trump’s move is the latest dog whistle aimed at people who don’t like that the United States ain’t as white as it used to be. It follows similarly xenophobic actions, like declaring English the official language, severely curtailing birthright citizenship and renaming the Gulf of Mexico “Gulf of America.”
A Personal Perspective
The English-for-truckers push has particularly angered me, though. Presuming that a more-diverse trucking industry is the main culprit behind the increase in fatal truck crashes ignores the fact that there are more trucks on the road, driving more miles, than ever before. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the rate of fatal crashes is three times less than in the late 1970s, when cultural touchstones like “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Convoy” seared the image of the good ol’ white boy trucker into the American psyche. It’s also an insult against people like my 73-year-old dad.
My Father’s Story
When I was in junior high, Papi took me with him on weekends to teach me the value of hard work. He’d wake me up at 2 in the morning so I could strap down cargo on flatbeds during chilly mornings or drag a pallet jack around warehouses at lunchtime. I don’t remember hearing him speak anything other than Spanish, the language we’ve always communicated in. But he succeeded enough that all four of his children are college-educated and have full-time jobs. His dream was for the two of us to eventually open our own father-son trucking company. That never happened because I was too much of a nerd, but I always took pride in my dad’s career.
The Reality of Language in Trucking
He achieved the American dream despite coming into this country in the trunk of a Chevy with a fourth-grade education and only picking up what I’ve always described as a rudimentary understanding of English. I visited my papi the day after our phone call, to see the only two mementos he could dig up from his trucking career. One was a bent, blurry photo of him from the early 1990s with his first rig, a faded red GMC cabover that he parked behind my Tía Licha’s store so he wouldn’t have to pay a private lot. Papi, younger than I am today, stands to the side of the troca at the Placentia Home Depot, waiting for workers to unload it.
Addressing the Stereotypes
The other memento Papi showed me was a plaque dated 1991 from a trucking trade group. It congratulated him for being a “credit to your profession” and “the very best your industry has to offer.” “They would only give it to the drivers who were safest,” he explained while I held it. We sat in his living room, where photos of my late mom and us kids decorated the bookshelves. He cracked a smile. “I earned a lot of them.” I asked how he learned the English he did know. Papi replied — in Spanish — that his first lessons were at his first job in the U.S., a carpet-cutting factory in Los Angeles.
The Brotherhood of Truckers
Truckers are some of the most careful people you’ll meet, because they know how dangerous their profession is. So for Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to huff in a press release that his department “will always put America’s truck drivers first” — as if people like Papi somehow don’t belong to that group — is hateful and ignorant of what trucking in this country is truly about. Or what this country is truly about. My dad and I waited for a Times video editor to record us talking about his trucking days. Toward the end, I tossed out an idea: How about he address Trump on behalf of immigrant truck drivers … in English?
A Message to Trump
Dressed in a snazzy black Stetson, leather vest and his finest boots, there was no way Papi was going to pass. He looked directly at the camera. “Mr. Trump,” he said. “This is Lorenzo Arellano, 100% Mexican. Please be a respect with the truck drivers. We always working hard. … It doesn’t matter if they don’t speak English. They gotta be good workers. I guarantee!” His heavy accent didn’t get in the way of how confident, unapologetic — even polite — he sounded, despite his loathing of the president.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the executive order signed by Trump is not only unjust but also ignores the reality of the trucking industry. Immigrant truckers like my father have contributed significantly to the economy and have done so with dedication and hard work, despite language barriers. It is essential to recognize the value of diversity in the trucking industry and to support policies that promote inclusivity and fairness.
FAQs
Q: What is the executive order signed by Trump about?
A: The executive order calls for the enforcement of an existing requirement that truckers be proficient in English, overturning a 2016 policy that allowed for sufficient communication through interpreters or smartphone apps.
Q: How many immigrant truckers are there in the US?
A: According to census figures, immigrant truckers make up 18% of the profession.
Q: Is there a correlation between the increase in fatal accidents and the rise of immigrant truckers?
A: No, the rate of fatal crashes is three times less than in the late 1970s, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Q: What is the message that Lorenzo Arellano wants to convey to Trump?
A: He wants to tell Trump to respect truck drivers, regardless of their language proficiency, and to recognize their hard work and contribution to the economy.
