ATLANTA — Khadar Hassan sat down at a Clarkston restaurant for his favorite meal of rice and goat meat, recouping his energy before an overnight drive to Baltimore.
The Somali-born trucker, who had just arrived from Texas, has been driving coast-to-coast since 2011 and prides himself on his clean record: zero accidents and just one ticket in nearly 15 years in the industry.
But Hassan hasn’t been able to ignore the growing stress rippling through the community of immigrant drivers following an executive order in April by President Donald Trump reviving strict enforcement of English-language proficiency requirements for commercial truckers.
Under the new requirements, drivers must complete a two-part test demonstrating functional English proficiency in roadside inspections.
Drivers who fail the assessment can’t drive until they can pass the test — a rule that had been sidelined since 2016.