Trump Administration Threatens Pennsylvania Over Driver's Licenses for Immigrants

Fri Nov 21 2025 07:18:44 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The Trump administration is pressuring Pennsylvania to rescind commercial driver’s licenses issued to immigrants, threatening to withhold funding if the state does not comply. This comes in response to a recent incident that raised concerns about the licensing process.

In a significant move, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened Pennsylvania with the withholding of nearly $75 million in federal funding if it does not cancel commercial driver's licenses allegedly issued illegally to immigrants. This action follows similar threats made against California. The response comes in the wake of a fatal crash involving a driver who was in the U.S. unlawfully. The Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, argues that the state's licensing processes are compliant and emphasizes concerns about the federal government's database integrity for immigration verification.

WASHINGTON (RTWNews) — The Trump administration has issued a warning to Pennsylvania, threatening to revoke nearly $75 million in federal funding if the state does not promptly rescind what the administration describes as improperly granted commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants.

This ultimatum from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy closely follows previous actions targeting California, another Democratic-led state critical of President Trump’s policies. Both states are viewed as key players in the 2028 presidential election landscape.

Duffy has heightened scrutiny of the state's licensing policies since an incident last August, where an unauthorized driver in Florida caused a crash that resulted in three fatalities. This tragedy highlighted concerns about the issuance of commercial driving licenses to immigrants.

The extent of the potential impact in Pennsylvania remains unclear, with a letter to Governor Josh Shapiro referencing an audit that found two out of 150 tested licenses were issued to individuals exceeding their lawful presence.

The Trump administration's demand includes halting the issuance of new, renewed, or transferred commercial driver’s licenses and conducting a comprehensive audit to eliminate licenses deemed noncompliant with federal regulations.

Shapiro has countered that noncitizen commercial driver’s license applications are reviewed accurately against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases. However, he has raised issues about the reliability of these federal records, especially after DHS arrested a Pennsylvania license holder connected to a terrorist organization.

Shapiro asserted that despite the individual being wanted on serious charges, the state had previously verified the man's eligibility through the federal database, which still indicated he was qualified for a license.

“They clearly are not minding the shop, and they’ve gotta get better, because every single state relies on this database when determining who qualifies for a CDL,” said Shapiro in defense of the state's licensing process.