On Saturday, Just the News posted an article about commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) issued in Illinois. I would like to note that Just the News is one of the few unbiased investigative news sources on the internet.

The article reports:

The Illinois official whose agency issued potentially thousands of illegal licenses to truckers, received more than $300,000 in donations from the trucking industry in recent years. The Illinois Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, is in a standoff with the Trump Transportation Department over its review of the state’s commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) which found that 1-in-5 licenses issued by Giannoulias’ office were done so illegally. 

Giannoulias, a Democrat who is reportedly considering a run for Chicago mayor, is facing scrutiny over his office’s role in issuing those licenses from the Trump administration after a series of high profile big rig crashes across the country that exposed issues in how states issue non-domiciled CDLs to foreign citizens, or in some cases, to illegal immigrants. 

In Illinois, the U.S. Transportation Department found the Secretary of State’s Office, through the Director of Driver Services, issued illegal CDLs, in some cases, to individuals who have failed to provide evidence of lawful presence, let alone proficiency in managing big rigs.

The article concludes:

In August, an illegal immigrant driver made an illegal u-turn on the Florida Turnpike in his 18-wheeler truck, causing a crash that left three dead, the Homeland Security Department said. The immigrant was identified as Harjinder Singh, an illegal alien from India.

Before the fatal crash in Florida, Singh reportedly failed his CDL driver’s test 10 times, before finally being granted a license in 2023 in Washington State, according to Fox News. Instructors also noted a lack of English proficiency, with video evidence showing Singh struggled to speak English with police in the wake of the crash. 

The Transportation Department’s audits in other states also uncovered what it says is “systemic non-compliance in issuing non-domiciled CDLs.” In California, the department’s audit found that “more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed were improperly issued.” In New York State, it found that more than half of non-domiciled CDLs were issued in violation of federal law. In Colorado, the fraction was 22%. 

These findings led the administration to pull federal funding until the states remedy the license issuing process to prevent such failures. Secretary Duffy’s agency issued a final rule last week that would prevent foreign drivers from receiving a non-domicile CDL without undergoing a consular and interagency screening. 

Ending the fraud in CDL licensing will make the roads safer for everyone.