Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Friday that the government will withhold millions in federal funding to New York unless it complies with commercial driver’s license regulations, signaling the government’s intention to intensify scrutiny of foreign-born truckers.
Duffy gave the state 30 days to comply or else lose access to $73 million in highway funding during a press conference in Washington, D.C. The development comes after a federal audit concluded New York has allowed people who enter the United States on work permits to “illegally” obtain CDLs they could use even after their work permits expire, Duffy said.
“What New York does is if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization — for 30 days, 60 days, one year — New York [Department of Motor Vehicles] automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver’s license,” Duffy said.
The Transportation Department wants Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) to “immediately revoke” the “illegally issued” CDLs, following the agency’s similar threats to a stream of other states over the matter.
California agreed to revoke 17,000 licenses after the government pledged to pull $160 million in funding. The administration has likewise challenged Minnesota and Pennsylvania over how they grant CDLs.
In New York, the DMV’s systems default to issuing 8-year CDL licenses to foreign drivers, regardless of when their legal statuses expire, according to Duffy’s office.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said its nationwide audit found that out of 200 sampled records of CDLs granted by New York, 107 were issued in violation of federal law. The data indicated 53% of CDLs were granted illegally, according to Duffy, an outcome the Trump administration blamed on Hochul’s team.
“What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight,” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said at the press conference. “It’s a systematically, grossly unacceptable deviation from a federal safety regulation that has been on the books for a long period of time.”
New York has shifted the burden of blame back to Washington, while promising to review the Transportation Department’s concerns, “and respond accordingly.”
“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,” New York State Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Walter McClure said in a statement. “Every CDL we issue is subject to verification of an applicant’s lawful status through federally-issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations.”
DUFFY VOWS TO CHALLENGE COURT RULING BLOCKING NEW REGULATIONS ON NON-CITIZENS OBTAINING CDLS
The Trump administration has intensified scrutiny of foreign-born truck drivers this year after several deadly crashes caused by immigrant truckers put the matter in the national spotlight.
Earlier this month, Duffy revealed the government has removed 9,500 foreign-born truck drivers from the road because they didn’t pass an English test.
