The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is threatening to withhold tens of millions in federal funding after a “nationwide audit exposed that Pennsylvania has issued licenses to ineligible and unqualified foreign drivers.”
USDOT: Numerous PennDOT Failures Found During FMCSA Audit
On November 20, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a public statement warning Pennsylvania that his department would withhold $75 million in funding if the state fails to “immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses and correct dangerous failures USDOT identified in its commercial driver’s license (CDL) program.”
Duffy pointed to a nationwide Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) audit of non-domiciled CDLs that he says showed “numerous failures by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), including failing to require any proof of lawful presence before issuing a CDL and issuing non-domiciled CDLs with an expiration date that extended well beyond the driver’s authorized stay in the United States.”
Feds To Require Immediate Action From Pennsylvania On Improperly Issued CDLs
USDOT is demanding that Pennsylvania take the following actions to avoid losing millions in transportation funding:
- Immediately pause the issuance of all new, renewed, transferred, or upgraded non-domiciled CDLs or commercial learner’s permits (CLPs).
- Conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify every non-domiciled license that was issued in violation of federal regulations and the policies, practices, and procedures that allowed for the issuance of non-compliant licenses.
- Void or rescind all unexpired, noncompliant licenses and remove unqualified drivers from the road.
Duffy’s warning to Pennsylvania comes on the heels of news of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest of truck driver Akhror Bozorov, 31. Bozorov was arrested in Kansas on an immigration violation and was also reportedly wanted on terrorism charges in Uzbekistan. He held a Pennsylvania-issued non-domiciled CDL after entering the U.S. illegally in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“Under President Trump, this Department is taking every measure to ensure dangerous foreign drivers aren’t illegally operating 40-ton vehicles on American roads,” said Duffy. “Joe Biden allowed tens of millions of illegals to pour into our country through open borders, including a suspected terrorist who Pennsylvania then allowed to get behind the wheel of a semitruck. I will continue to fight to get these dangerous drivers off our roads to protect American families and support our national security.”
This is not the first time that Duffy has threatened to withhold federal transportation funding from states that fail to comply with new CDL and English Language Proficiency requirements for commercial vehicle drivers. In late October, Duffy threatened California with the loss of as much as $160 million in funding over the alleged improper issuance of CDLs.