In a tragic event out of South Carolina, the nation witnesses yet another preventable accident that underscores the challenges of illegal immigration and road safety. A 21-year-old University of South Carolina student, Nathaniel Baker, became the unfortunate victim of a hit-and-run incident. The driver, a 24-year-old illegal immigrant named Wally Fernandez Crews, reportedly struck Baker while attempting an illegal left turn and then tried to flee on foot. While this story is heart-wrenching, it also shines a light on failed policies and oversight in the system meant to protect American citizens.
Fernandez Crews’s history paints a disturbing picture of negligence. Having been arrested by border patrol in 2016, he was ordered to appear and later deported in 2018 – a deportation that never happened. One cannot help but wonder about the string of errors that allowed him to remain in the country and inevitably take a life. It seems as though the bureaucratic system is more of a sieve than a well-functioning mechanism of law and order.
Beyond individual stories, there looms a larger crisis: the state of American roads. Many families across the nation dread the thought of their loved ones being out on the open road, where the threat isn’t just road conditions but the drivers themselves, some of whom have little regard for American laws and standards. With tales of illegal immigrants causing fatal accidents, like the one in Colorado involving a truck driver deported 16 times previously, a pattern is emerging that can’t be ignored. The sheer number of these incidents begs the question of what standards are upheld when granting driving privileges.
Underpinning this issue is a troubling trend within the trucking industry itself. Recent years have seen an influx of foreign-born drivers, some of whom may be in the country illegally, who are entering the American trucking market as standards relax. The previous administration in 2016 did away with enforcing English proficiency requirements for commercial drivers. This change has led to questions about whether drivers are capable of safely navigating American roads and understanding traffic signs, which are crucial for public safety.
Currently, the Biden-Harris administration’s push to expand the driver pool to include more refugees has also stirred debate about lowering standards to meet workforce shortages. This desperation to fill jobs at any cost seems to overshadow the importance of screening for safety and legality. As America grapples with these challenges, it becomes evident that policies need to be revisited. A country can’t compromise on the safety of its citizens or its roads, and while it’s essential to provide opportunities, it’s even more critical to ensure those opportunities don’t come at the expense of life’s most basic right: safety.
