by WorldTribune Staff, December 15, 2025 Real World News

An audit of the commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued recently by New York State for truckers found half were issued to illegal aliens, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

“What New York does is if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization — for 30 days, 60 days, one year — New York automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver’s license,” Duffy said. “That’s contrary to the law.”

Duffy threatened to pull $73 million in federal highway funding meant for New York.

Duffy is giving New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul and her officials 30 days to revoke all the illegal CDLs, pause any new licenses or learner’s permits from being issued and conduct their own comprehensive audit — or have their federal funding pulled.

“We also found that New York many times won’t even verify whether they have a work authorization, they have a visa, or they’re in the country legally,” Duffy added.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration examined 200 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued by the New York Department of Motor Vehicles and found 107 were unlawfully issued.

“So they’re just giving eight-year commercial driver’s licenses to people who are coming through their DMV and sending them out on American roadways — and again they’re endangering the lives of American families,” Duffy said.

The New York Post reported in September that one migrant applicant didn’t even have to put a first name down to receive the New York CDL license.

Department of Transportation officials are also investigating whether a Chinese national accused of causing a fatal crash on a Tennessee highway last week was illegally issued a New York State driver’s license.

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  Audit: Half of NY commercial trucking licenses went to illegals, WorldTribune.com