New York is the 8th state found to have improperly issued commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that New York is the eighth state discovered to routinely issue commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants that remain valid after their legal authorization to be in the country expires. Duffy has threatened to withhold $73 million in highway funds unless New York corrects these practices and revokes any improperly issued licenses.

New York joins a growing list of states under federal scrutiny for commercial licensing practices. Duffy has previously called out Democratic-governed California, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota for similar issues. However, federal investigators have also sent letters to Republican-led states including Texas and South Dakota without the same public attention.

The Transportation Department’s review, launched this summer, gained urgency after an August incident in Florida where a truck driver without proper authorization made an illegal U-turn, causing a crash that killed three people. The federal rules being enforced have existed for years but are now receiving heightened attention.

During the recent government shutdown in October, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sent notification letters to Texas, South Dakota, Colorado, and Washington regarding similar concerns with their licensing procedures.

Federal audits have uncovered cases where states failed to verify a driver’s immigration status before issuing a commercial license. In some instances, investigators found that more than half of the sampled licenses had been improperly issued. In Texas, nearly half of the 123 licenses reviewed were found to be flawed.

“When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake — it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership,” Duffy said regarding New York’s situation.

The implications are significant for public safety, considering commercial drivers are authorized to transport passengers or up to 80,000 pounds of cargo on highways. In response to federal pressure, California has already revoked approximately 21,000 commercial driver’s licenses that were improperly issued.

The Transportation Department has threatened substantial financial penalties against non-compliant states, including $182 million from Texas and $160 million from California. While no state has lost highway funding for these specific violations yet, California did forfeit $40 million in a separate review for failing to enforce English language requirements for truck drivers under rules the Trump administration began enforcing this summer.

State officials have largely defended their practices. New York State Department of Motor Vehicles spokesperson Walter McClure strongly rejected Duffy’s claims, stating: “Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents. Here is the truth: Commercial Drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules.”

This is not the first time Duffy has threatened to withhold federal funding from New York. Previous threats were made regarding the state’s congestion pricing plan in New York City and subway crime concerns. The Transportation Department also recently suspended $18 billion in funding for major infrastructure projects in New York, including a new Hudson River rail tunnel, over concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion principles in the spending.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office responded that “public safety is the Governor’s top priority” and stated that the Texas Department of Public Safety has been directed to “strictly enforce English language proficiency requirements and to stop issuing intrastate commercial driver’s licenses to drivers who do not meet those standards.”

The controversy highlights the significant role of immigrants in the trucking industry, who make up approximately 20% of all truck drivers nationally. However, the non-domiciled licenses under scrutiny represent only about 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses—roughly 200,000 drivers.

The Transportation Department had previously proposed new restrictions that would severely limit which non-citizens could obtain commercial licenses, but these rules were temporarily halted by court order.

The federal crackdown has received support from trucking trade groups while raising concerns from immigrant advocacy organizations, who report increased harassment of immigrant drivers and an exodus from the profession.

Todd Spencer, president of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, supported the federal efforts, stating, “For too long, loopholes in this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk.”