WASHINGTON – Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ignited a firestorm Tuesday, accusing critics of shedding “crocodile tears” for a deported migrant who spent a decade in the U.S. but “couldn’t be bothered to learn our language.” Duffy’s pointed remarks, delivered during a White House briefing on the administration’s crackdown on unqualified immigrant truckers, targeted the case of Anmol Anmol, a 28-year-old Indian national arrested in Oklahoma last month for driving an 18-wheeler with a fraudulent New York CDL listing his name as “No Name Given Anmol.”
Anmol, who entered illegally in 2023 and was released pending asylum, was pulled over on I-40 near El Reno during a routine inspection. ICE records revealed his undocumented status and prior removal proceedings, with the anomalous license raising alarms about sanctuary state laxity. Duffy, overseeing the Department of Transportation’s role in the probe, used the incident to underscore his push for stricter English proficiency for commercial drivers. “We’re not heartless—we’re practical,” Duffy declared, voice rising with unfiltered frustration. “This man had 10 years to learn English, to integrate, to follow the rules. Instead, he drove a semi with a fake name, endangering lives. Crocodile tears for that? Spare me.”
The comment, laced with raw indignation, tapped into simmering debates over assimilation amid Operation Secure Horizon’s 360,000 deportations nationwide. Duffy, a former congressman and Fox News host, tied it to broader reforms, including audits of states like New York for issuing CDLs to non-citizens. “English is our unifying tongue—overstayers who ignore it invite chaos on our roads,” he added, announcing 150 new hires to enforce language standards.
Critics pounced. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called Duffy’s tone “dehumanizing,” arguing economic migrants often juggle low-wage jobs without language classes. “This isn’t about tears—it’s about families torn apart by fear-mongering,” she tweeted. Immigrant advocates, including the ACLU, decried it as scapegoating, noting most undocumented workers contribute without incident.
Duffy’s bluntness, a hallmark of his no-nonsense style, resonates with Trump’s base, where polls show 65% support stricter integration rules. As raids intensify in sanctuary strongholds like Chicago and Portland, his words echo a deeper divide: Assimilation as survival, or enforcement as empathy’s foe? For Anmol, now detained in El Paso awaiting deportation, Duffy’s salvo is a stark reminder—10 years wasn’t enough.
