Minnesota, New York among Democratic states targeted in crackdown on immigrant commercial driver’s licenses

New York routinely issues commercial driver s licenses to immigrants that may be valid long after they are legally authorized to be in the country U S Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared Friday and he threatened to withhold million in highway funds unless the system is fixed and any flawed licenses are revoked The administration previously threatened to withhold million in highway funds from Minnesota over non-domiciled commercial driver s licenses Minnesota transportation executives have contested the Trump administration s contends and mentioned they corrected various administrative errors after an internal audit earlier this year New York state officers announced they are following all the federal rules for the licenses and have been verifying drivers immigration status New York is the fourth state run by a Democratic governor Duffy has targeted in his effort to make sure truck and bus drivers are qualified to get commercial driver s licenses He launched the review 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 But the rules on these licenses have been in place for years The Transportation Department has revealed it is auditing these non-domiciled licenses nationwide but so far no states run by Republican governors have been targeted But Duffy explained Friday that this effort is not political and he hopes New York Gov Kathy Hochul will take responsibility and work with him He announced it is about making sure everyone behind the wheel of an -pound truck is qualified and safe Let s hold hands and sing Christmas music and fix your system Duffy explained Instead he mentioned the response appears to be trying to dodge divert and weave without taking responsibility for the problems Widespread commercial driver s license problems detected in New York audit feds say Duffy commented federal investigators identified that more than half of the licenses they reviewed in New York were issued improperly with multiple of them defaulting to be valid for eight years regardless of when an immigrant s work permit expires And he mentioned the state couldn t prove it had verified these drivers immigration status for the working non-domiciled commercial driver s licenses it has issued Plus investigators ascertained several examples of New York issuing licenses even when applicants work authorizations were already expired 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 Gov Hochul must forthwith revoke these illegally issued licenses Duffy reported Related Trump adds SNAP fraud accusations to its attacks on Minnesota New York has days to respond to these concerns State DMV spokesperson Walter McClure defended the state s practices 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 noted 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 unconstitutional diversity equity and inclusion principles 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 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 Duffy has threatened to withhold millions from California Pennsylvania and Minnesota after the audits determined considerable problems under the existing rules like commercial licenses being valid long after an immigrant truck driver s work permit expired That pressure prompted California to revoke licenses No money has been withheld so far from any state because Duffy disclosed California has complied and the other two states still have more time to respond Trucking business 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 certain of them to abandon the profession For too long loopholes in this plan have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways putting professional truckers and the motoring residents at hazard commented Todd Spencer who is president of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association The post Minnesota New York among Democratic states targeted in crackdown on immigrant commercial driver s licenses appeared first on MinnPost