The Trump administration has announced it will withhold $75 million in federal road funds from Pennsylvania unless the state immediately corrects failures in its commercial driver’s license (CDL) program, according to The Federalist. This action follows the recent arrest in Kansas of an illegal alien, wanted in Uzbekistan for terrorist affiliations, who was issued a non-domiciled CDL by Pennsylvania despite questions about his legal status.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy highlighted that Pennsylvania violated federal safety regulations by improperly issuing CDLs to non-domiciled drivers without verifying their lawful presence. The DOT sent a letter Wednesday to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Secretary Mike Carroll and Gov. Josh Shapiro on the matter.
According to The Federalist, the letter reads, “the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has found that ‘PennDOT issued non-domiciled CDLs that extend beyond the expiration of drivers’ lawful presence in the U.S, issued non-domiciled CDLs without requiring the non-domiciled driver to comply with the standards for providing proof of lawful presence, and issued non-domiciled CDLs to lawful permanent residents who were eligible for a regular CDL.’”
Pennsylvania must conduct a comprehensive review, revoke all noncompliant licenses, and remove unqualified drivers from the roads to avoid losing the funding. The state has 30 days to respond with corrective measures or dispute the findings. Continued noncompliance could lead to withholding up to $151 million in federal funds in future years and possible decertification of Pennsylvania’s CDL program, prohibiting the state from issuing, renewing, transferring, or upgrading these licenses.
According to The Federalist, “when issuing non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs, states may only accept, ‘as valid proof of lawful presence (i) an unexpired employment authorization document … issued by United States Customs and Immigration Service … or (ii) an unexpired foreign passport accompanied by an approved I-94 form documenting the driver’s most recent admittance into the United States.’ PennDOT has issued 12,436 non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs that are currently unexpired.”
PennDOT may resume issuing these licenses only after canceling all invalid CLPs and CDLs and resolving the internal problems that led to this situation.