A new rule announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will restrict who is eligible for non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
Duffy said the move closes loopholes that allow non-citizens to be eligible for a non-domiciled CDL. The new rule would make non-citizens meet a much stricter set of rules, including an employment-based Visa and undergoing a mandatory federal immigration status check.
The move comes as an audit has uncovered a pattern of states issuing licenses illegally to foreign drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiated the audit after a series of fatal crashes were caused, it said, by non-domiciled drivers.
“What our team has discovered should disturb and anger every American,” Duffy said. “Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers – oftentimes illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it. Today’s actions will prevent unsafe foreign drivers from renewing their license and hold states accountable to immediately invalidate improperly issued licenses.”
According to the FMCSA, the audit found that several states had issued non-domiciled CDLs, including California, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington. The audit also found that programming errors, weak quality assurance, and insufficient staff training have added to the issue, allowing drivers who are not eligible to be issued licenses, and licenses being issued to drivers with expiration dates beyond the driver’s legal stay in the United States.
Duffy also announced direct action against California after the audit found that more than 25 percent of the non-domiciled CDLs in that state were improperly issued. Duffy said the state must pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs, identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations, then revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs
“California must get its act together immediately or I will not hesitate to pull millions in funding. To every other state around the country – find all improperly issued CDLs and revoke their licenses now. We owe it to the American people to ensure only lawful, qualified drivers are operating big rigs on our highways,” Duffy said.
If the state fails to comply, the U.S. DOT will withhold federal highway funds, Duffy said.