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

By JOSH FUNK New York is the eighth state detected to routinely issue commercial driver s licenses to immigrants that are valid long after they are no longer legally authorized to be in the country U S Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted Friday and he threatened to withhold million in highway funds unless the system is fixed and any flawed licenses are revoked Related Articles US accuses Rwanda of violating the peace deal as M rebels seize a key eastern Congo city TSA renews push to end collective bargaining agreement for airport safeguard screeners Navy inquiry finds Osprey safety issues were allowed to grow for years Trump was unable to insult his way to win in Indiana redistricting battle What to know about Trump s draft proposal to curtail state AI regulations New York was the fourth state run by a Democratic governor called out publicly by Duffy in his effort to make sure truck and bus drivers are qualified to either haul passengers or pounds of cargo down the highway He previously questioned similar practices in California Pennsylvania and Minnesota But letters have gone out to other states as well without fanfare or comments from Duffy including Republican-run Texas and South Dakota In addition to finding licenses that remained valid longer than they should have these federal audits have also discovered instances where the states may not have even checked a driver s immigration status before issuing a license Investigators check a small sample of licenses in each state Duffy launched the review this summer but it became more prominent after a truck driver who was not authorized to be in the U S made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people in August The rules on these licenses the Transportation Department is enforcing have been in place for years The AP discovered letters online Friday that were sent to Texas South Dakota Colorado and Washington in October The greater part of the states that have been the focus of the inspection so far have defended their practices and explained they were following the federal rules But Duffy has stated the high percentage of problems in various states combined with the defensive responses from authorities suggests a systematic obstacle and he insisted Friday this effort is about safety not politics 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 reported about New York on Friday Investigators also revealed that nearly half of the licenses reviewed in Texas were flawed Specific of the other states involved small numbers but majority of the problems were similar Since Duffy pressed the issue in California the state has revoked particular commercial driver s licenses that were issued improperly The Transportation Department has threatened to withhold federal highway funding from these states including million in Texas and million in California if they don t overhaul their licensing programs and invalidate any flawed licenses So far no state has lost money because they complied or because they have more time to respond But as part of a separate review California lost million for failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers that the Trump administration began enforcing this summer States defend their licensing practices New York State Department of Motor Vehicles spokesperson Walter McClure mentioned the state is following all the federal rules 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 Regime and New York State DMV has and will continue to comply with federal rules McClure declared in a announcement Duffy has previously threatened to pull federal funding from New York if the state did not abandon its plan to charge drivers a congestion pricing fee in New York City and if crime on the subway system was not addressed The Transportation Department also put billion of funding on hold for two major infrastructure projects in New York including a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey because of concerns about whether the spending was based on diversity equity and inclusion principles A spokesperson for Texas Gov Greg Abbott disclosed in a announcement that general safety is the Governor s top priority and we must ensure that truckers can manage Texas roadways safely and efficiently To advocacy this mission Governor Abbott directed the Texas Department of Residents Safety to strictly enforce English language proficiency requirements and to stop issuing intrastate commercial driver s licenses to drivers who do not meet those standards Largest part of the other states have explained they are working to address the concerns the Transportation Department raised Previous efforts to restrict immigrant truck drivers Immigrants account for about of all truck drivers but these non-domiciled licenses only represent about of all commercial driver s licenses or about drivers The Transportation Department also proposed new restrictions that would severely limit which noncitizens could get a license but a court put the new rules on hold Trucking exchange groups have praised the effort to get unqualified drivers and drivers who can t speak English off the road along with the Transportation Department s actions last week to go after questionable commercial driver s license schools But immigrant advocacy groups have raised concerns these actions have led to harassment of immigrant drivers and prompted chosen of them to abandon the profession For too long loopholes in this operation have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways putting professional truckers and the motoring constituents at threat mentioned Todd Spencer who is president of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association Associated Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls South Dakota Mead Gruver in Cheyenne Wyoming Anthony Izaguirre in Albany New York and Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton New Jersey all contributed to this review