Foreign-domiciled carriers caught hauling domestic U.S. freight would face penalties of up to $100,000 per vehicle per day under legislation introduced Monday by U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas).

The bill, named Barron's Law, would also make a standardized English-proficiency test a condition for obtaining or renewing a commercial driver's license — moving that requirement from roadside enforcement directly into the licensing process.

The proposal goes well beyond the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's recent crackdown on non-domiciled CDLs. It places new obligations on carriers and states, targets illegal cabotage and so-called chameleon carriers, and embeds immigration and work-authorization checks into CDL issuance.

For cross-border operators, the most consequential provision may be a pilot program that would use GPS, electronic logging device data and geofencing at high-volume land ports of entry to identify foreign-domiciled carriers suspected of illegally moving domestic U.S. freight. Publicly available descriptions of the bill do not specify which ports would participate, which carriers would face monitoring, how location data would be obtained or how long it would be retained.

The detailed legislative text had not been publicly posted as of Wednesday morning.

Named after an 8-year-old killed on I-35

The legislation is named for Barron Ritchey, an 8-year-old from Pilot Point, Texas, killed in April 2023 on Interstate 35 near Hillsboro. Ritchey was returning home with his mother when a wheel hub and dual tires separated from a tractor-trailer operated by RTD Carriers and struck the family's SUV, according to Gill's office.

Gill's office identified the driver as an immigrant whose B-1 visa had expired about six months before the crash. The congressman said the bill aims to prevent similar deaths by ensuring commercial drivers are lawfully present and proficient in English.

English testing moves into CDL licensing

Applicants for a new or renewed CDL would have to pass standardized English assessments approved by FMCSA, demonstrating the ability to understand road signs and safety instructions, respond to spoken instructions and emergency communications, and complete required logs and reports.

Federal regulations already require interstate drivers to read and speak English well enough to communicate with the public, understand highway signs, respond to official inquiries and complete reports. FMCSA strengthened roadside enforcement this year: under a policy effective April 16, drivers who fail an English assessment can generally be cited and placed out of service, with different treatment for certain operations within U.S.-Mexico border commercial zones.

Barron's Law would go further by making the assessment a licensing gate rather than relying primarily on roadside checks.

Immigration status inside the CDL record

The bill would require CDL applicants to be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents or otherwise authorized under federal law to work in jobs involving commercial vehicle operation. States could issue CDLs and commercial learner's permits only to applicants meeting those requirements.

Federal CDL records would carry an indicator showing whether a driver satisfies immigration and employment-authorization requirements, while prohibiting storage of the underlying immigration documents in the record.

The proposal follows FMCSA's final rule effective March 16, which limits non-domiciled CDL and CLP eligibility for foreign-domiciled applicants to three employment-based nonimmigrant categories: H-2A temporary agricultural workers, H-2B temporary nonagricultural workers and E-2 treaty investors. FMCSA says no other immigration statuses qualify.

Carriers on the hook for hiring

Motor carriers would bear new verification duties. Carriers that knowingly employ or contract with an ineligible operator would face civil penalties of at least $25,000 per offense, rising to at least $100,000 where the conduct results in serious bodily injury or death. Gill's office confirmed the enhanced-penalty provision but did not specify dollar amounts.

The bill also targets chameleon carriers — companies operating under new identities to evade federal requirements, penalties or compliance histories. DOT would deny registration to qualifying chameleon carriers whose registrations were revoked in the preceding three years. Knowingly concealing a material relationship or using an affiliate to evade safety sanctions could bring fines up to $25,000, imprisonment up to one year, or both. FMCSA already can pursue reincarnated carriers; the bill would add specific statutory penalties and registration restrictions.

Cabotage and state leverage

Mexico-domiciled carriers with authority beyond the border commercial zones may haul international cargo between Mexico and U.S. points, but FMCSA prohibits domestic point-to-point operations. Barron's Law would impose the $100,000-per-vehicle daily penalty for knowing violations — an exposure that escalates quickly for fleets running multiple trucks illegally inside the U.S.

States would have to cooperate with federal enforcement. States that fail to comply could lose 10% of certain federal highway funding after notice and an opportunity to correct the violation.

For shippers and cross-border forwarders, the bill signals a continued tightening of driver-eligibility enforcement that could tighten capacity in cross-border trucking if enacted. The legislation now heads into the congressional process with its statutory details still unpublished.