Trump’s Proposal To Replace Truckers with Veterans to Impact Panjab

August

2026

US President Donald Trump has proposed replacing immigrant truck drivers with American military veterans, claiming many undocumented truckers are unsafe and responsible for deadly crashes. The remarks, made during the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, come as his administration steps up its crackdown on undocumented workers in the trucking industry. If the proposal moves forward, it could have implications for 150K Panjabi immigrants who have increasingly found work in the US trucking sector over the past few years. Sikhs dominate the US trucking industry both as drivers and owners. The overwhelming majority operate legally as US citizens, permanent residents, or authorized workers. The proposed action could have implications for the US trucking industry, which has long faced driver shortages and increasingly relies on immigrant workers. The Trump administration is also weighing a plan to charge international students USD 100K to stay in the US and work after graduating. Meanwhile, after releasing the picture of a Panjab resident who died in February 2025, Amritpal Singh, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified another Panjab resident, Gurpreet Singh, as a wanted accused in an alleged transnational organized crime case. According to the FBI, Gurpreet is wanted for his alleged involvement in a transnational criminal organization accused of racketeering conspiracy to deal in firearms without a license, conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances with intent to distribute, and distribution of controlled substances. Newly unsealed court documents provide fresh insight into the purported underworld connections of Gurpreet Singh, an accused cocaine smuggler whose name also appears in files stemming from a high-profile Toronto police corruption probe. The FBI Los Angeles X handle also mentions the Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria organized crime group. Indian media reporting the issue mentioned the name Amritpal in its headlines instead of suffixing or clarifying that this person was different from the jailed Khadoor Sahib Member of Parliament Amritpal Singh. Concurrently, a 25-year-old Panjab-origin Sikh Uber driver, 25-year-old Mandeep Singh, has been charged with two counts of sexual assault following an investigation by the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) into an alleged incident in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Simultaneously, five Panjabis have been arrested in Thailand for allegedly abducting three Indians and demanding a ransom for their release. The five suspects were arrested at a hotel in Khlong Tan, Bangkok, while they were waiting to board an outbound flight (earlier coverage).