Representative Brandon Gill (R-TX) recently introduced Barron’s Law to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining trucking licenses.
The bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Keith Self (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX) and Roger Williams (R-TX), would require commercial driver’s license applicants to prove they are U.S. citizens or otherwise authorized to work in the U.S., pass an English-proficiency test and face stricter penalties for fraud and carriers that knowingly employ ineligible drivers.
In April 2023, 8-year-old Barron Ritchey was killed by a wheel hub and dual tires that flew off a tractor-trailer in Pilot Point, Texas. Rep. Gill said this bill is named after him to honor his memory and help prevent similar tragedies.
“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,” Rep. Gill said.
This new legislation comes amid controversy over how President Donald Trump’s administration is conducting its ongoing immigration crackdown.
In a statement, the Barron family said they hoped changes made in his name could help prevent another family from suffering a similar loss.
“In the years since we lost Barron, we have learned that his death was not the result of just one failure, but a series of failures across our transportation and immigration systems,” the Ritchey family said. “Many of those same issues have now become part of a national conversation about who should be allowed to operate commercial trucks on our roads and how our laws are enforced.”
Rep. Gill, as the chairman of the House Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, has emerged as a leading voice in strengthening border protections and immigration enforcement.
The Texas congressman added that the legislation is intended to ensure that commercial truckers are in the country lawfully and can communicate in English.
“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,” Rep. Gill said. “We must ensure that truckers are here lawfully and speak our language.”
