US freight carriers would face $25,000-per-offense penalties for knowingly putting unqualified drivers behind the wheel under legislation introduced September 28 by Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas).

H.R.10620, branded "Barron's Law," also would raise that fine to $100,000 if the employment of an ineligible driver results in serious injury or death, and it would layer in a $100,000-per-vehicle-per-day civil penalty for each day a foreign motor carrier runs cabotage loads inside the United States.

The bill lands as enforcement tightens nationwide on non-domiciled CDL holders. Earlier in 2026, FMCSA restricted non-domiciled CDLs to H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 nonimmigrant visa holders who clear federal screening.

What else would Barron's Law require?

The bill stacks five obligations on carriers and states:

• Driver eligibility: CDL holders must be US citizens, lawful permanent residents, or otherwise federally authorized to drive a commercial motor vehicle. States could not issue a CDL to anyone who does not meet that standard, and FMCSA would record each driver's immigration and employment status in the CDL information system.
• English testing: states would have to run an FMCSA-approved English-language assessment before issuing or renewing any CDL or commercial learner's permit (CLP). The test would measure comprehension of road signs, communication with safety personnel, and the ability to complete driver logs and reports.
• Cabotage fines: up to $100,000 per vehicle for each day a foreign motor carrier performs domestic point-to-point moves.
• Chameleon carriers: carriers whose registration was revoked within the past three years would be denied re-registration. A separate $25,000 penalty would apply to anyone who makes a false statement, conceals an affiliation, or sets up a successor entity to dodge a revocation or other federal safety sanction.
• Injury or death escalator: per-offense penalties climb from $25,000 to $100,000 when a knowing hire produces a serious injury or fatality.

Why the bill carries that name

Gill introduced the legislation in the name of Barron Ritchey, who was eight years old when a wheel hub and dual tires detached from a tractor trailer on I-35 near Hillsboro, Texas, in April 2023 and struck the Ritchey family's SUV. "The driver, Martin Monreal-Alvarado, had a B-1 visa that expired six months earlier," Gill said in a release from his office.

"Barron's death was a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy—his family should never have had to suffer his loss as a result of Democrat-era immigration failures," Gill said. "While nothing can fix the pain of his death, this legislation aims to prevent any other Americans from dying at the hands of illegal aliens behind the wheel on our roads. We must ensure that truckers are here lawfully and speak our language."

How the penalties hit the books

The $25,000 base fine, before any injury trigger, exposes even small carriers to balance-sheet damage over a single bad hire. A fleet with 50 trucks that loses three drivers' qualification files in a single compliance review could face $1.5 million in proposed fines before FMCSA ever weighs injury severity.

Shippers do not receive the bill, but carrier compliance costs flow into contract rates. The verification work — federal employment authorization, English fluency assessments, FMCSA's tightened driver-history reviews — layers onto onboarding overhead. Brokers already leaning on motor carrier safety scores would tighten qualification thresholds before dispatch.

The cabotage penalty would change cross-border planning economics. A foreign motor carrier that finishes an international haul and continues on a second US leg would accrue up to $100,000 per vehicle for each day the violation runs, on top of the base fine.

What happens next

H.R.10620 was introduced on September 28, 2026, and now sits before committee. Operators should expect fast FMCSA guidance on the "knowingly" standard, since that threshold decides whether a paperwork miss triggers a five-figure fine or a warning letter, and the agency's standing English-language rule already overlaps with the bill's new testing mandate.