US Transportation Secretary Urges States to Revise License Issuance Practices Amid Concerns Over Immigrant Commercial Drivers' Licenses
In a bid to ensure road safety, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has threatened to withhold $73 million in highway funds from states that fail to correct their flawed commercial driver's license issuance practices. New York, the eighth state to be identified with improper licensing practices, is now under scrutiny.
Duffy announced the crackdown following an investigation by his department, which found issues with immigration status checks and license validity across several states, including California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Texas, South Dakota, Colorado, and Washington. In New York, nearly half of the reviewed licenses were deemed flawed, prompting Duffy to call on the state to take immediate action.
The US Department of Transportation has been conducting an investigation into commercial driver's licenses issued to immigrants since this summer. However, it gained more attention following a fatal truck crash in Florida that killed three people due to an unauthorized immigrant driver. The Secretary emphasized that his focus is on road safety rather than politics.
Texas saw nearly half of its reviewed licenses deemed flawed, while Colorado had minor issues with license validity. Washington's problems were limited to non-English language proficiency requirements. South Dakota and Texas have responded by committing to stricter enforcement of English language proficiency requirements and improving their licensing programs.
However, immigrant advocacy groups have expressed concerns that the actions may lead to harassment of immigrant truckers, prompting some to abandon the profession. The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association has praised the efforts to improve safety but noted the need for responsible implementation.
The US Department of Transportation has already taken action against California, revoking 21,000 commercial driver's licenses issued improperly. If other states fail to reform their practices and revoke flawed licenses, they risk losing federal highway funding.
In a bid to ensure road safety, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has threatened to withhold $73 million in highway funds from states that fail to correct their flawed commercial driver's license issuance practices. New York, the eighth state to be identified with improper licensing practices, is now under scrutiny.
Duffy announced the crackdown following an investigation by his department, which found issues with immigration status checks and license validity across several states, including California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Texas, South Dakota, Colorado, and Washington. In New York, nearly half of the reviewed licenses were deemed flawed, prompting Duffy to call on the state to take immediate action.
The US Department of Transportation has been conducting an investigation into commercial driver's licenses issued to immigrants since this summer. However, it gained more attention following a fatal truck crash in Florida that killed three people due to an unauthorized immigrant driver. The Secretary emphasized that his focus is on road safety rather than politics.
Texas saw nearly half of its reviewed licenses deemed flawed, while Colorado had minor issues with license validity. Washington's problems were limited to non-English language proficiency requirements. South Dakota and Texas have responded by committing to stricter enforcement of English language proficiency requirements and improving their licensing programs.
However, immigrant advocacy groups have expressed concerns that the actions may lead to harassment of immigrant truckers, prompting some to abandon the profession. The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association has praised the efforts to improve safety but noted the need for responsible implementation.
The US Department of Transportation has already taken action against California, revoking 21,000 commercial driver's licenses issued improperly. If other states fail to reform their practices and revoke flawed licenses, they risk losing federal highway funding.
. States are already under pressure to balance economic growth with public safety concerns. What if tightening up licensing procedures leads to more problems for legit immigrant drivers? We need to make sure our roads are safe, but we gotta do it in a way that doesn't unfairly target certain groups.
so there's this one trucking company owner who just lost his livelihood because someone didn't double-check the license 
like three people died in a crash and the guy was driving without a valid license... is that really what we want to focus on? 
how about focusing on fixing the problem instead of threatening states with funding cuts? it's not exactly rocket science, right? 
and can't they just offer training or something for immigrant truckers who might be struggling to learn English or get the necessary documents? 
. I'm not against security checks or anything, but revoking licenses from legit immigrants just 'cause they got messed up in the system? That's not cool 
.
. They need workers with valid licenses to avoid fines and penalties, but now it seems like some states are creating a nightmare for them 
.
. It's not rocket science, but I guess that's what happens when we're too busy pointing fingers at each other instead of working together 
.
. Immigrant truckers are already dealing with enough stress and scrutiny; do we really need to add "potential license revokee" to their list of worries? 
. I get that we wanna keep our roads safe, but are we really gonna start fining states for not having perfect systems in place? It feels like it's more about sending a message than actually fixing the problem.
. It's time for some nuanced thinking and solutions that actually help us all out.