US Politics
Transport secretary threatens to pull another $160M from California for issuing commercial driver’s license to non-citizens
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U.S. Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened to pull $160 million from California, claiming the state is illegally issuing commercial drivers licenses to non-citizens.
“Gavin Newsom cares more about giving illegals commercial drivers licenses than he does citizens of his own state and the safety of Americans. It’s shameful,” Duffy said, speaking to FOX News’ Sunday Morning Futures.
“He’s been lying about what he’s been doing and we’re going to fight tooth and nail to make sure we hold states like California accountable.”
Duffy added that he would also be pulling California’s ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses.
It comes after the Transportation Department last month tightened up restrictions over issuing commercial licenses to non-citizens, including the possession of employment-based visas and being subject to a mandatory federal immigration status check.
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California was singled out as the most “egregious” perpetrator of non-compliance, with the DOT claiming that 25 percent of 145 non-domiciled CDLs reviewed by investigators were “improperly issued.”
The department claimed that “due to weak oversight, insufficient training, and programming errors” it had found a large number of non-domiciled CDLs were issued to drivers who were ineligible, or those whose licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired.
Eva Spiegel, a spokesperson for the department said the administration “has no legitimate basis” to withhold the funds.
“The federal government previously allowed commercial driver’s licenses for asylum seekers and refugees and on September 26 announced emergency regulations to cease this practice that went into effect on September 29,” she said in a statement shared with The Independent.
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“California is in compliance with these regulations and will remain in compliance with federal law.”
The Independent has also contacted state Governor Gavin Newsom’s office for comment about Duffy’s comments and proposed action.
Duffy’s announcement about pulling California funding comes as part of a nationwide audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration following a recent series of “horrific, fatal crashes caused by non-domiciled drivers.”
This included in Florida after three people were killed, apparently after an undocumented driver made an illegal U-turn and crashed his truck. Harjinder Singh, a native of India, lived in California and was originally issued a commercial driver’s license in Washington before California issued him one.
As well as California the audit has reportedly found licenses that were issued improperly in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington.
“To every other state around the country – find all improperly issued CDLs and revoke their licenses now,” Duffy said in a statement. “We owe it to the American people to ensure only lawful, qualified drivers are operating big rigs on our highways.”
