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Transportation Department tightens noncitizen truck driver rules after fatal crash in Florida

New federal rules restrict noncitizen commercial driver’s licenses to holders of specific visas after audits found 25% of California’s licenses were improperly issued, risking $160 million in funding.

  • On August 12, Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on Florida's Turnpike about 50 miles north of West Palm Beach, blocking lanes and causing a crash that killed three minivan victims.
  • The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's nationwide review concluded many non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses were improperly issued and linked to fatal crashes, citing weak oversight and system errors.
  • The Transportation Department announced an emergency rule that pauses all states from issuing non-citizen CDLs until they comply with new standards, narrowing eligibility to visa holders and requiring SAVE checks.
  • The Transportation Department gave California 30 days to audit and fix its program or risk losing roughly $160 million in federal highway funds, the FMCSA warned.
  • While officials tighten rules, they note that roughly 190,000 non-citizen CDL holders will keep licenses until renewal, amid political clashes involving President Donald Trump, Secretary Sean Duffy, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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By Aaron Cooper, CNN The Department of Transportation is imposing new limits to “drastically restrict” people from outside the United States from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses, and is threatening to withhold highway funding from states that don’t comply. “The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely, 100%, broken,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a news conference Friday. “It has become a threat to public safety and …

Center

By Aaron Cooper, CNN The Department of Transportation is imposing new limits to “drastically restrict” people from outside the United States from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses, and is threatening to withhold highway funding from states that don’t comply. “The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely, 100%, broken,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a news conference Friday. “It has become a threat to public safety and …

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Townhall broke the news in Washington, United States on Thursday, September 25, 2025.
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