Pennsylvania became the second state to face losing millions in transportation funds after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday he found the state violated federal safety regulations by issuing commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to foreigners.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will withhold nearly $75 million from Pennsylvania if the state does not immediately revoke CDLs issued to foreign nationals and “correct dangerous failures” identified in its CDL program.
“Under President Trump, this Department is taking every measure to ensure dangerous foreign drivers aren’t illegally operating 40-ton vehicles on American roads,” Duffy said in a statement. “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.”
Duffy vowed to continue fighting to get dangerous drivers off U.S. roadways and protect American families and national security.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that federal immigration agents had arrested 31-year-old Akhror Bozorov, a criminal illegal immigrant from Uzbekistan who was wanted in his home country for being a member of a terrorist organization.
Bozorov, who was arrested in Kansas on Nov. 9, was working as a commercial truck driver after he obtained a non-domiciled CDL that was issued to him as a foreigner in Pennsylvania. The Biden administration granted him a work authorization in January 2024, according to DHS.
He entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and is accused of distributing terrorist propaganda and calling for jihad online, and recruiting terrorists to join the jihad movement, according to DHS.
“This should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should not be operating 18-wheelers on America’s highways,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Monday.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was notified Wednesday of its failure to comply with regulations promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
According to the federal transportation department, the state’s CDL program had made errors in issuing commercial learner’s permits and CDLs to foreign nationals.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report Thursday.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation paused the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and related documentation until further notice on Sept. 29 to comply with new federal transportation regulations.
A federal review, which occurs every year, found that Pennsylvania issued non-domiciled CDLs that extend beyond the expiration of drivers’ lawful presence in the United States, according to the notice.
The state also allegedly issued the CDLs without requiring the driver to comply with standards for providing proof of lawful presence in the U.S.
The state also allegedly issued the non-domiciled CDLs to drivers who were lawfully in the U.S., instead of issuing those drivers a regular CDL, according to the notice.
The federal government informed the state that it must take immediate corrective action to address the deficiencies. If it fails to do so, the state could lose its federal highway funds and faces the decertification of the state’s CDL program.
The state has 30 days to respond to the federal determinations and to take corrective action, the notice stated.
California was the first state to lose federal funding—$40.6 million—after Duffy found similar issues with the state’s CDL program last month.
As a result, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration paused its non-domiciled CDL program on Sept. 29 until new federal standards are met, according to a notice on the California Department of Motor Vehicle’s website.
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