The tragic death of Indiana National Guardsman Terry Frye has cast a harsh and urgent spotlight on a growing crisis few Americans even knew existed: illegal immigrants obtaining commercial trucking licenses — and driving 80,000-pound rigs on U.S. highways. This latest case isn’t just a traffic accident. It’s a devastating and avoidable failure of policy, oversight, and enforcement.
At the center of the tragedy is 56-year-old Goderdzi Gujabidze, an illegal immigrant from the Republic of Georgia. In 2022, he was waved across the U.S. border in San Luis, Arizona, under Biden administration protocols. Despite having no legal residency, New York State granted him a non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). This license allowed Gujabidze to get behind the wheel of a fully loaded 18-wheeler — a privilege that should require the highest standards of training, documentation, and accountability.
According to law enforcement, Gujabidze lost control of the truck, causing a military Humvee to swerve off the road. Guardsman Terry Frye died on the scene. Three others were hospitalized.
Authorities said a “language barrier” made it difficult to communicate with Gujabidze at the scene — a chilling detail that underscores growing concern in the trucking industry and among law enforcement about the flood of underqualified, non-English-speaking drivers operating commercial vehicles on American roads.
The Trump administration placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of sanctuary states like New York, which have issued commercial licenses to non-citizens, including those in the country illegally. “Sanctuary states are recklessly providing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens who should not be operating 18-wheelers,” said Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
And the problem is far from isolated. Federal officials recently discovered an Uzbek national — in the country illegally and on the terror watchlist — holding a Pennsylvania CDL while allegedly distributing jihadist propaganda online. These are not bureaucratic errors. These are systemic vulnerabilities, and they are costing lives.
In response, the Department of Transportation has launched a federal crackdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced sweeping new measures, including a review of state CDL records and a reinforced English-language requirement. “What our team has discovered should disturb and anger every American,” Duffy said. “Licenses are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers — often times illegally.”
This is not a partisan issue. It's a public safety issue. Americans have the right to expect that commercial truck drivers — who control machines weighing 40 tons at highway speeds — are properly vetted, legally authorized, and fully competent to operate them. Terry Frye deserved better. So did the families who share the road with these trucks every single day.
The federal crackdown may have come too late for Guardsman Frye, but it must not come too late for the rest of America.