Cabotage and How B1 Visa Loopholes Are Fueling Accidents, Trafficking, and Industry Collapse

DOT and Duffy's announcement on non-compliant CDLs is a start, but it doesn't touch the B1 issue.

When Edgar Daniel Gutierrez Aguirre crossed the World Trade Bridge in Laredo this past August, he thought he was just another B1 visa trucker making a routine delivery. What he didn’t expect was for Homeland Security Investigations to discover apartment lease agreements, utility bills, and other documents proving he’d been illegally living in Texas while operating on a visitor visa designed only for temporary work.

Gutierrez’s arrest illustrates a much larger crisis brewing on America’s highways, one that’s creating a perfect storm of safety hazards, undermining legitimate trucking operations, and providing cover for criminal enterprises that stretch from Mexican cartels to U.S. courtrooms. The misuse of B1 business visitor visas by Mexican and Canadian truck drivers isn’t just about immigration violations anymore. It’s become a highway safety epidemic that’s forcing American trucking companies out of business, enabling drug trafficking operations, and putting every family traveling Interstate 35 at risk.

While Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced emergency restrictions on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses yesterday, those restrictions don’t address the B1 visa crisis at all. The new CDL rules target foreign nationals who obtain U.S. commercial licenses while living abroad. B1 visa drivers, by contrast, use their home country licenses and are supposed to be temporary visitors making international deliveries. The distinction is huge and the B1 loophole remains wide open.

Cabotage Con Game

Even drivers entering the U.S. on B1 visas can legally deliver international cargo and return home, or pick up another international load while heading directly back to the border. What they cannot do, legally, is perform domestic trucking runs within U.S. borders. That’s work reserved for American drivers with proper commercial driver’s licenses. Along the Texas-Mexico border, that distinction has become meaningless. Sources throughout the industry describe a systematic violation of cabotage rules that has reached epidemic proportions. One fuel hauler described seeing overwhelming numbers of unauthorized drivers coming out of Laredo, estimating nine out of ten trucks involved B1 drivers operating illegally.

The mechanics of the scam are straightforward. A Mexico-based trucking company dispatches a driver with a B1 visa to deliver a legitimate international load from, say, Guadalajara to a drop yard in Nuevo Laredo. The driver crosses the border legally into Laredo, Texas, drops off the international cargo, and should either deadhead back to Mexico or pick up another international load for the return trip. Instead, unscrupulous U.S. carriers are hiring these drivers to pick up domestic freight, often for a fraction of what American drivers would charge.

One small Texas carrier described the impossible competitive situation. He explained that B1 drivers accept lower pay rates, making it impossible for legitimate operators to compete without dropping rates to unprofitable levels. When B1 drivers perform illegal domestic runs, they often lack proper insurance coverage, comprehensive background checks, or familiarity with U.S. highway safety regulations. They’re operating in a legal gray area that puts everyone at risk.

Secretary Duffy’s emergency action on non-domiciled CDLs addresses a real problem, but it’s an entirely different problem from the B1 visa crisis. Non-domiciled CDL holders are foreign nationals who obtained American commercial driver’s licenses while living outside the United States. The new restrictions require stricter visa categories, immigration status verification, and license duration limits.

B1 visa drivers operate under completely different rules. They use commercial licenses issued by their home countries, typically Mexico or Canada, and enter the United States as temporary business visitors. They’re not supposed to obtain U.S. CDLs at all. The regulatory framework governing their operations falls under cabotage laws, not CDL issuance requirements.

This distinction explains why the emergency CDL action, however well-intentioned, doesn’t touch the core B1 visa problems plaguing the trucking industry. Mexican drivers using B1 visas to perform illegal domestic runs are violating immigration and cabotage laws that fall under different enforcement mechanisms.

The confusion between these two issues has allowed the B1 visa crisis to persist even as attention focuses on CDL reform. Industry observers worry that yesterday’s announcement may create a false impression that comprehensive action is being taken, when in reality the most problematic violations continue unchecked.

The DOJ Files Where Trucking Meets Trafficking

The Department of Justice prosecutions over the past few years are wild. What becomes clear is that the same visa loopholes that enable unfair competition also provide cover for large-scale criminal operations. Take the case that recently concluded in the Oklahoma federal court. A jury convicted five defendants in a drug trafficking conspiracy that used semi-trucks to transport liquid methamphetamine hidden in gas tanks from Mexico to Oklahoma and Georgia. Denis Leal Gutierrez operated two trucking companies, DGC Express Co. and later Dare Express Co., that had been responsible for moving hundreds of kilograms of liquid meth as far back as February 2021.

The operation was sophisticated. Evidence showed that Mexican trucks would arrive at properties in Alamo and Edinburg, Texas, where co-conspirator Cesar Azamar would facilitate transferring the liquid methamphetamine from Mexico-based semi-trucks into Dare Express vehicles registered under Adrian Narvaez’s name. The American trucking companies provided the perfect cover for what was essentially a cartel transportation network.

Law enforcement seized 907 kilograms in Tecumseh, Oklahoma in March 2021, and another 92 kilograms later that year. When the final tally was complete, the conspiracy had moved methamphetamine worth millions of dollars using the legitimate trucking industry as camouflage.

The Oklahoma case wasn’t unique. In Washington state, DEA agents dismantled a Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated network that used semi-trucks to transport hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Isabel Villarreal Zapien, a 44-year-old Mexican citizen working as a truck driver, was identified as a key conspirator moving large loads of drugs by truck. The seizures included 95 kilograms of meth and more than 41 kilograms of fentanyl powder, enough, according to DEA calculations, to kill everyone living in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.

Even more troubling was a recent case in South Texas where father and son James and James Jensen were indicted for providing material support to Mexican cartels engaged in terrorism. Operating Arroyo Terminals in Rio Hondo, they allegedly facilitated approximately 2,881 shipments of smuggled crude oil, the largest funding source for Mexican drug cartels. At the time of their arrests, authorities seized four tank barges, three commercial tanker trucks, and sought forfeiture of $300 million.

DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell explained that what began as a drug trafficking investigation evolved into a complex criminal operation generating millions from crude oil. The operation turned from drugs and transport to financing terrorism.

The Border Zone

Part of the problem stems from the unique geography and economics of border transportation. The border zone extending roughly 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border has developed its own informal rules and enforcement patterns that don’t always align with federal law.

This is where the lines between international and domestic commerce blur. Drivers who entered legally to make an international delivery often find themselves offered lucrative domestic runs before heading home. The temptation is enormous, especially when legitimate drivers are earning modest per-mile rates while cabotage runs can pay $1,000 to $1,500.

One B1 driver writing in online forums described the challenging economics. He explained that legal B1 drivers working for legitimate companies get paid roughly half what American drivers earn per mile, typically between $0.27 to $0.40 per mile. Most work every day while crossing dangerous cartel-controlled territories in Mexico just to reach the border. B1 drivers performing illegal cabotage runs often don’t realize they lack insurance coverage. They take the risk because the payouts can get $1,000 to $1,500 per illegal run.

Uninsured drivers hauling domestic freight. It’s a nightmare scenario for highway safety and civil litigation.

Despite the obvious violations, enforcement has been sporadic at best. Sources throughout the industry describe seeing obvious cabotage violations at weigh stations and truck stops, but meaningful enforcement actions remain rare. One South Texas fuel hauler suggested that authorities could easily check driver status at scale houses along Interstate 35, noting that there’s sufficient manpower available. The enforcement official pointed out that hundreds of state troopers are often deployed for border security when they could be conducting meaningful trucking enforcement instead.

The enforcement gap creates a vicious cycle. Legitimate carriers watch competitors undercut their rates using illegal labor, forcing them to either violate the law themselves or exit the market entirely. Gerry Reed, a South Texas trucking company owner, shut down his operation in December rather than compete with illegal B1 operations. Reed explained that there was no point trying to keep up with the illegal practices, noting that too many competing interests prevented meaningful action against the violations.

Fleet Exposure in the Crosshairs

For trucking companies, the regulatory environment creates both opportunities and liabilities. Legitimate carriers that have competed against illegal operations may finally see relief as enforcement intensifies, but they also face increased scrutiny of their own hiring and verification practices.

When carriers employ drivers with questionable legal status or improper licensing, they not only violate immigration law but also potentially void their coverage and expose themselves to unlimited liability. In an industry where major accidents can result in $50 million-plus judgments, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

A Texas jury awarded $101 million against an oil services company whose driver tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana after plowing into a pickup truck. Another Texas case resulted in $80 million in punitive damages for a company that allegedly forced a driver to falsify logbook records and exceed federal hours-of-service rules.

When visa violations and licensing irregularities are factored in, the exposure multiplies. Plaintiffs’ attorneys are increasingly sophisticated about identifying immigration violations, improper licensing, and insurance coverage gaps that can transform routine accident cases into company-ending judgments.

While regulatory enforcement plays catch-up, real families are paying the price on American highways. The Transportation Department cited at least five fatal crashes that have occurred since January, involving non-domiciled CDL holders, as part of the justification for emergency action, but those statistics don’t capture accidents involving B1 visa violations, which fall under different reporting categories.

The connection between visa violations and highway fatalities often remains hidden in court records and insurance claims. When accidents involve drivers operating illegally on B1 visas, the liability questions become exponentially more complex. Who’s responsible when an uninsured driver working illegally for a U.S. carrier causes a multi-vehicle fatal crash? How do you pursue damages against a driver who shouldn’t have been behind the wheel in the first place?

State-by-State Insanity

We have a licensing problem. Yesterday’s emergency federal action revealed significant variations in how states administer commercial driver licensing. While California faces immediate sanctions for non-domiciled CDL violations, the inconsistencies run deeper than simple compliance failures.

The audit found that more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed in California were improperly issued, with some licenses extending as many as four years beyond the expiration of the required documentation for legal presence. In one case, California gave a driver from Brazil a CDL with endorsements to drive passenger and school buses months after his legal presence had expired.

These CDL problems are separate from the B1 visa crisis. States don’t issue licenses to B1 visa drivers, those drivers use foreign licenses and are supposed to be temporary visitors. The regulatory chaos around CDL issuance has created confusion that is helping B1 visa violators avoid scrutiny.

Some states have become CDL mills for foreign nationals, while others maintain stricter standards. This patchwork creates opportunities for forum shopping by those seeking the most permissive jurisdictions. For B1 visa drivers, the relevant enforcement mechanisms involve immigration and customs authorities, not state licensing agencies.

The Canadians

While much attention focuses on Mexican drivers, Canadian B1 visa violations are also widespread. Sources describe Canadian truckers abusing visa programs to participate in domestic logging operations in northern Maine, competing directly with American drivers for jobs and depressing wages.

U.S. Representative Jared Golden has complained that Canadian truckers are allegedly abusing the H-2A agricultural visa program by making daily commutes into northern Maine to participate in the American domestic logging market. The H-2A program has become another avenue for circumventing cabotage restrictions.

The Canadian violations often involve different visa categories and different enforcement challenges, but the underlying dynamic is similar: foreign drivers working illegally in domestic markets while American drivers lose work and wages.

The Technology Factor

Modern trucking operations generate massive amounts of data that could help identify cabotage violations. Electronic logging devices track every mile, every hour, every route. GPS systems record exact locations and timing. Bills of lading document cargo origins and destinations. Enforcement agencies have been slow to systematically leverage this data. While individual cases might involve detailed analysis of electronic records, there’s no comprehensive system for identifying patterns that suggest illegal domestic operations.

The disconnect is particularly glaring, given the sophistication of the criminal enterprises that exploit these gaps. The liquid methamphetamine operation in Oklahoma involved complex coordination between multiple trucking companies, careful timing of transfers, and sophisticated money laundering. Yet it operated for years before law enforcement intervention.

One group that’s increasingly paying attention to visa and licensing irregularities is the insurance industry. Major trucking insurers are implementing more stringent verification requirements for driver eligibility and legal status. Insurance industry sources report that carriers who may have previously ignored documentation issues are suddenly becoming very interested in compliance. When potential exposure reaches tens of millions for a single incident, the cost of proper verification becomes quite reasonable by comparison.

The insurance implications extend beyond individual policies. When systematic violations are discovered, insurers may seek to void coverage retroactively, leaving carriers exposed to claims spanning multiple years. The potential for industry-wide repricing looms as insurers reassess their exposure to regulatory violations.

Yesterday’s emergency federal action on CDLs represents a starting point for one aspect of the crisis, but it doesn’t address the B1 visa problems at all. Meaningful reform will require sustained effort across multiple agencies and levels of government, with clear recognition that different visa categories require different enforcement approaches.

Enhanced enforcement at weigh stations and border crossings could provide immediate deterrence for B1 visa violations. Better data sharing between immigration, transportation, and law enforcement agencies could help identify cabotage patterns before they become entrenched. Stronger penalties for carriers who knowingly employ illegal drivers could shift economic incentives.

The underlying problems run deeper than any single policy fix can address. The vast economic disparities between U.S. and Mexican trucking wages create enormous incentives for illegal border crossings. The complexity of modern supply chains makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish legitimate international commerce from domestic cabotage violations.

What started as immigration violations and unfair competition has evolved into a comprehensive threat to highway safety, national security, and the integrity of America’s transportation system. The B1 visa loopholes are systematically undermining the legitimate trucking industry and putting every family on America’s highways at risk.

Yesterday’s emergency action on non-domiciled CDLs addresses one piece of the puzzle, but the B1 visa crisis remains largely untouched. These are different problems requiring different solutions, and the distinction matters enormously for enforcement effectiveness.

Until meaningful enforcement of cabotage laws becomes routine, American truckers will continue losing work to illegal operations, criminal enterprises will continue exploiting regulatory gaps, and families will continue paying the price in accidents that should never have happened.

The invisible crisis on America’s highways is no longer invisible. The question is whether federal agencies, state governments, and the trucking industry have the will to implement the comprehensive reforms necessary to restore safety and fairness to our transportation system.

As enforcement officials recognize, you can’t regulate your way out of this problem, but you can enforce your way into a solution. The time for half-measures and regulatory neglect is over. American highways and American families deserve better.