N.Y. Faces $73M Loss Over CDL Licenses for Illegals

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said New York's practice of handing out commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens will be brought to a "full stop."

Duffy told reporters on Friday that New York has the worst record of any state in allowing illegals to handle freight hauling.

In an accompanying social media post, Duffy wrote, "We're holding New York accountable for issuing non-domicile commercial driver's licenses to truckers illegally. FULL STOP."

He threatened that New York stands to pay a heavy price if it continues what he said is an illegal practice.

"We're giving New York 30 days to comply, or we'll withhold $73 MILLION! The safety of the American people comes first," he wrote.

Duffy said a department audit of New York's handling of commercial licenses shows widespread failure to comply with federal regulations.

"If an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization for 30 days, 60 days, one year, New York automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver's license," he said.

Duffy said the problem is obvious.

"That's contrary to the law. That's one offense," he said. "But we also found that New York won't even verify whether they have a work authorization…a visa, or they're in the country legally."

Duffy said that should never happen.

"So they're just giving eight-year commercial driver's licenses to people who are coming through their DMV and sending them out on American roadways," he said.

Duffy said federal law requires him to give New York 30 days to move into compliance. If that does not happen, he said, New York will face a loss of federal support funding.

"If New York refuses to come into compliance, because [Gov.] Kathy Hochul, for some reason, believes that we should have unqualified truck drivers on American roadways, we are going to pull tens of millions of dollars, as phase one for the state of New York," he said.

In September, the department issued a notice of its investigation into trucking safety on America's roads and pointed to "at least five fatal crashes occurring since January involving non-domiciled CDL holders."

The department said the issue amounts to a national security and public safety threat.

Investigators with the department said that, along with New York and California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington were also identified as states with licensing patterns not consistent with federal regulations.

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