(NewsNation) — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a nationwide audit and new rules for foreign commercial truck drivers on Friday.
The emergency interim rule regards “nondomiciled” drivers — those who are in the U.S., but aren’t citizens or who maintain a permanent residence elsewhere — and are seeking commercial permits or licenses.
States will now must:
- Check a national immigration database to see if the drivers can legally apply for this license
- Conduct an audit of those who have already been issued CDLs
Citing an August crash caused by semi-driver Harjinder Singh, a native of India, Duffy called licensing procedures a “threat to public safety.”
Singh is accused of making an illegal U-turn while driving on Florida’s major toll road, leading to a crash that killed three people. Authorities said Singh is in the United States illegally and was issued a commercial driver’s license from California — one of 19 states that grant licenses regardless of immigration status.
The Transportation Department already launched an audit of these licenses, and found that California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington had “systemic non-compliance” with previous regulations.
“Fix your system. Fix your rules. Comply with the law,” Duffy said. “Every governor must immediately begin a top-down audit of every nondomiciled issued CDL in your state. And if you find any license that was not issued properly, revoke it. Get rid of it.”
Transportation officials estimate tens of thousands of licenses will be pulled after the audit is completed nationwide.
NewsNaton’s Brooke Shafer contributed to this report.