Rep. Gill Introduces Barron’s Law

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Brandon Gill (R-TX) today introduced Barron's Law to ensure that illegal aliens cannot obtain trucking licenses. The legislation would strengthen commercial trucking safety by ensuring drivers have lawful status or proper employment authorization, requiring English-language proficiency testing, crack down on fraud, and impose enhanced penalties on motor carriers that knowingly use ineligible drivers.

This bill is named after 8-year-old Barron Ritchey of Pilot Point, Texas, who was killed in April 2023 on I-35 near Hillsboro when a wheel hub and dual tires flew off a tractor-trailer operated by RTD Carriers and struck the Ritchey family's SUV as his mother drove him home from a school trip. The driver, Martin Monreal-Alvarado, had a B-1 visa that expired six months earlier.

"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," said Congressman Gill. "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. We must ensure that truckers are here lawfully and speak our language."

"Our son Barron was a joyful eight-year-old boy who loved his family and friends, playing with his dog Cowboy, and he especially loved making people laugh," said the Ritchey family. "He had his whole life ahead of him, and there is not a day that goes by that we don't miss his smile, his laughter, and all of the moments we should still be sharing with him. Because of our faith in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ and the atonement of His blood over our lives, we have the blessed assurance that we will see our son again.

"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 continued. "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. We are grateful to Congressman Gill for listening to Barron's story and introducing Barron's Law. Nothing can bring our son back, but we hope that changes made in his name can help prevent another family from suffering the same unimaginable loss."

Cosponsors (3): Reps. Weber, Williams, Self

###