Mexican transportation officials say that some of their truck drivers are already receiving english literacy warnings in the state of Texas. 

In April, President Trump signed an executive order bringing back english literacy requirements for truck drivers that were revoked during the Obama administration. These requirements state that all truck drivers must have enough english literacy to read traffic signs and communicate with law enforcement. 

Alfonso Millán Chavez, delegate with Mexico’s National Chamber of Freight Transportation in Tijuana, says that only 30% of Mexican truck drivers with B1 visas, who are authorized to drive all the way to Canada, have sufficient english literacy. 

“I just got word one driver received a warning while driving in Texas last Tuesday,” Chavez said to KXAN. “We’d heard visas were being taken away too, but that is not accurate… We do need to pay attention to these warnings, drivers could be put out of commission and their companies could face fines and other sanctions.”

Chavez says that his organization is not against the executive order, and that all truck drivers should know enough english to properly operate in the United States, but that there are concerns about the new mandate having a negative impact on the economy. 

“If they follow through as planned and start removing drivers who don’t speak enough English, this will lead to a collapse in the economy,” Chavez said. “Currently there is a need for 56,000 truckers in Mexico, and about 200,000 in the United States, so cutting out truckers now in service would hurt the economies of both countries.”

Chavez says he is working to provide classes to Mexican truckers to help them gain better proficiency in english and avoid any english literacy warnings.

“We are in the process of organizing English courses for drivers who want to learn to avoid having any problems and maybe losing their visas,” he said.