DOT cracks down on thousands of illegal immigrant truckers as agency looks to holiday travel: Duffy

PHOENIX – Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy offered an update on his agency’s work alongside the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in cracking down on an influx of illegal immigrants given a non-domiciled commercial driver’s license (CDL) without proper vetting, which has led to several deaths on America’s highways.

Duffy was set to speak this weekend at AmericaFest and also touched on his special friendship with Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk, who was murdered Sept. 10 during an event in Utah.

“First off, President [Donald] Trump has been a remarkable leader. What he cares about is making government work better, making sure he’s implementing the right policies for the American people. Not the rich, not the powerful, but average, everyday Americans,” Duffy said when asked about the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) crackdown on the trucking crisis.

Duffy sprang into action earlier this year after an Indian national who authorities said was issued a CDL by California allegedly killed a carload of people after he attempted an illegal U-turn on Florida’s Turnpike.

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Duffy expanded his efforts, warning Pennsylvania’s PennDOT and other agencies after illegal immigrants captured out of state were found to have non-domiciled CDLs issued by blue state agencies. In PennDOT’s case, an agency official told Fox News Digital a Philadelphia resident named in the sweep had not drawn any red flags in a federal database it used to verify him.

“As you’ve seen, Homeland Security focused on the border and illegal migrants in the country. What we found at DOT is a different set of problems,” Duffy said, adding that too many states have offered licenses to ineligible foreigners.

“They’re not qualified to get a license. And under [former President] Joe Biden’s tenure, [former Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg’s tenure, millions of people have come into the country. And it seems like states across the country have offered commercial driver licenses to many of those people,” he said.

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“The problem is that you endanger the safety of everyday Americans who use our roadways. And, so, what we’ve done at DOT is say, ‘Listen, unless you comply with our rules, we are going to take money away from your state.’”

He added that DOT has pressed for compliance from problem states, sharing that California has since revoked 17,000 problematic non-domiciled CDL licenses. 

On the other side of the country, Duffy said that more than half of the non-domiciled CDLs issued by NYSDOT were “issued illegally.”

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Those New York drivers, he said, may not even be legally present in the U.S., or they may have had a work permit for a few months but wrongfully parlayed that into a truck or school bus driving license with a seven-year expiry date.

“So, we are going to use every resource, every tool that we have at DOT, to make sure that we have the right people on our road that are well qualified, well licensed. That are proficient in the English language to make sure we’re maximizing safety.”

He noted that while many people are focused on non-domiciled CDL holders driving big rigs, many are also qualified to therefore drive school buses, potentially putting children in danger.

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As the Florida tragedy showed, those drivers also don’t just stay in the states with lax policies.

“We are going to maximize everyone’s safety on American roadways, and that means going after states, pulling money from states. We 100% under Donald Trump’s leadership will,” Duffy said.

Speaking about his friendship with Kirk, Duffy said AmFest shows the impact Kirk had on America’s youth, drawing them into the conservative movement.

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“To be here with my wife at this event and the meaning behind it is incredibly honoring for us and to be able to talk to the young people who are here to honor Charlie and have our voices heard,” he said.

“It couldn’t be more thrilling and exciting, and I’m looking forward to taking the main stage but also having a chance to talk to a lot of the … young people, but people of all ages, are here to come and celebrate Charlie in this movement.”

Duffy later said Friday was to be the busiest travel day of the year, and that 51,000 flights took off, a reminder of the sacrifices air traffic control and other DOT subdivision workers make at Christmastime.

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“They’re going to work overtime. We appreciate their service. But I think what’s also important is when there are a lot of flights like this, so many people are traveling, I think the American traveler has to pack their best attitude, their best perspective as they go to the airport,” he said.

“[They should] know there could be some mishaps because it’s so busy. But if you have that little angel on your shoulder and saying, ‘I’m going to roll with the flow, and I’m going to do my best as a person who’s going to get on an airplane and travel with multiple of the people,’ I think the experience is going to be great.”

Suggesting the DOT or FAA could receive complaints as they tend to during holiday seasons, Duffy said travelers should remember an important maxim when it comes to his agency’s work.

“If there’s any issue in any of those spaces —whether it’s the controllers, the weather, mechanical — we will slow down traffic or we will stop traffic because we want you to be safe when you travel,” he said.

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“I don’t want your flight delayed, but I’ll take a delayed flight over an unsafe flight every day of the week, and that’s what we focus on.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden and a political organization linked to Buttigieg for comment.