A federal crackdown on immigrant commercial driver’s licenses following several fatal crashes has so far uncovered problems in eight states.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has publicly threatened to withhold millions in federal funds from California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and now New York as investigations uncover issues such as problems with permits remaining valid after immigrants’ legal status expires. But after briefly mentioning Texas, South Dakota, Colorado and Washington in September, the department also quietly sent letters detailing similar concerns to those states during the shutdown.
Concerns about immigrant truck drivers have come into focus after a tractor-trailer driver who did not have the right to enter the United States made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash that killed three people in Florida. Concerns were heightened after a serious crash in California in October that killed three people and also involved an illegal truck driver.
Duffy proposed new restrictions in September that would severely limit which noncitizens could be licensed to drive semitrailers or buses, but courts have put the new rules on hold.
Additionally, the Trump administration has been seeking to enforce existing English language requirements for truck drivers since the summer. As of October, about 9,500 truck drivers nationwide had been ordered off the road for failing to demonstrate English proficiency during traffic stops or inspections.
Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far:
california
The Department of Transportation’s first focus was California because the driver in the Florida crash had a license there. He also traveled to California after the accident and had to be extradited to face charges.
California fought back after Tuffy threatened to withdraw $160 million from the state. Gov. Gavin Newsom has argued with Duffey in statements and social media posts, defending the state’s approach, saying California officials had verified the immigration status of all those drivers through a federal database as required.
But after some back and forth, California last month revoked 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses after identifying problems. That number has since grown to 21,000. So the Department of Transportation has not withdrawn this funding.
But Duffy did withdraw another $40 million in federal funding because he said California was the only state that did not impose English language requirements for truck drivers.
pennsylvania
If the federal government is not satisfied with the actions taken by Pennsylvania, it could withhold nearly $75 million.
The Department of Transport said it found several of the 150 licenses it reviewed to be valid after the driver’s legal stay in the country ended. In four other cases, the federal government said Pennsylvania did not provide evidence that it required non-citizens to provide legal proof that they were lawfully present in the country when obtaining a permit.
As it has done in all those states, the Department of Transportation ordered Pennsylvania to stop issuing commercial driver licenses to immigrants until a comprehensive review is completed to ensure all licenses it issues remain valid and to revoke any that are invalid.
The federal government says there are approximately 12,400 noncitizen drivers with unexpired commercial learner’s permits or commercial driver’s licenses issued by Pennsylvania.
minnesota
Duffy has threatened to withhold $30.4 million from the state if Minnesota does not address shortcomings in its commercial driver’s license program and revoke any licenses that should not be issued.
The Department of Transportation found that some licenses were valid beyond the driver’s work permit, and others were never verified by the state.
Pong Xiong, director of the Minnesota Department of Driver and Vehicle Services, said the state discovered some administrative issues among the 2,117 non-domiciled commercial license plates issued in the state and took action, including canceling some license plates. Xiong said the federal audit largely confirmed problems Minnesota had already identified and corrected.
The state plans to work with federal officials to resolve any remaining issues.
New York
Duffy highlighted concerns about New York’s business licenses issued to non-citizens on Friday.
Federal investigators found that more than half of the 200 permits they reviewed in New York were issued improperly, with many of them defaulting to a validity period of eight years, regardless of when an immigrant’s work permit expired. He also said the state could not prove it had verified the immigration status of those drivers for the 32,000 valid nonresident commercial driver’s licenses it issued. Additionally, investigators found examples of New York issuing permits even though the applicant’s work authorization had expired.
“New York State must take immediate action to comprehensively review its CDL program and revoke every license issued illegally,” said Derek Barrs, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
State DMV spokesman Walter McClure defended the state’s approach and said the state has always complied with all federal rules for such business permits.
Texas
Nearly half of the 123 licenses investigators reviewed in Texas were defective, leading the Department of Transportation to threaten to withhold $182 million if the state did not reform its permit program and invalidate any defective licenses.
A spokesperson for Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement, “Public safety is the Governor’s top priority, and we must ensure truck drivers can operate Texas roadways safely and efficiently. To support this mission, Governor Abbott is directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to strictly enforce English language proficiency requirements and cease the issuance of in-state commercial driver’s licenses to drivers who do not meet these standards.”
south dakota
Investigators found three business licenses issued by the state were valid longer than they should have been. South Dakota also issues some licenses to Canadian citizens who are not eligible for a license.
When investigators reviewed 51 driver’s licenses in South Dakota, they discovered a problematic practice in which the state routinely issues temporary paper licenses that are valid for one year regardless of a driver’s immigration status.
South Dakota officials did not immediately respond to those concerns Friday. The state could lose $13.25 million.
colorado
Of the 99 licenses reviewed in Colorado, approximately 22% violated federal requirements. That raises questions about 1,848 valid non-resident commercial driver’s licenses in the state.
Investigators discovered a glitch in Colorado’s computer system that restored licenses that were valid for four years when staff had to conduct multiple searches in federal immigration databases. Unless workers are vigilant, some of these extended permits will slip away.
Eighteen Mexican citizens who were not eligible were also issued business licenses.
Jennifer Giambi, a spokesperson for the Colorado DMV, said the state is reviewing its permitting program to check for any additional issues and that the review should be completed by January. No new licenses are currently being issued under the program.
washington
If the Department of Transportation is not satisfied with their response, the state could lose $31.35 million.
Investigators found problems with only about 10 percent of the 125 licenses reviewed in Washington, but they were shocked when an internal state review found 685 immigrant drivers were issued regular commercial licenses instead of the non-resident licenses they were supposed to receive. In these cases, state officials often accept the wrong documents, the Department of Transportation said.
Washington officials told The Associated Press they could not immediately respond Friday because the state was dealing with widespread flooding. But earlier this week, state Department of Licensing spokesman Nathan Olson said in an email to The Seattle Times that the errors had been resolved and Washington was working to improve its systems and procedures.