The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found Pennsylvania violated existing federal safety regulations by issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses illegally – including to ineligible foreigners without verifying their legal status.

The Department said it will withhold nearly $75 million in federal funding if the state does not immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses and correct dangerous failures USDOT identified in its CDL program.

In FMCSA’s review of Pennsylvania’s non-domiciled CDL issuance practices, FMCSA found numerous failures by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation including:  

• Issuing non-domiciled CDLs with an expiration date that extended well beyond the driver’s authorized stay in the United States

• Failing to require any proof of lawful presence before issuing a CDL  

USDOT is now demanding that Pennsylvania take the following corrective measures to avoid funding being withheld: 

• Immediately pause the issuance of all new, renewed, transferred, or upgraded non-domiciled CDLs or commercial learner’s permits.

• Conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify every non-domiciled license that was issued in violation of federal regulations and the policies, practices, and procedures that allowed for the issuance of non-compliant licenses. 

• Void or rescind all unexpired, noncompliant licenses and remove unqualified drivers from the road.