By JOSH FUNK
New York is the eighth state discovered to routinely difficulty business driver’s licenses to immigrants which might be legitimate lengthy after they’re not legally licensed to be within the nation, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated Friday, and he threatened to withhold $73 million in freeway funds except the system is fastened and any flawed licenses are revoked.
New York was the fourth state run by a Democratic governor known as out publicly by Duffy in his effort to verify truck and bus drivers are certified to both haul passengers or 80,000 kilos of cargo down the freeway. He beforehand questioned comparable practices in California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
However letters have gone out to different states as nicely with out fanfare, or feedback from Duffy, together with Republican-run Texas and South Dakota.
Along with discovering licenses that remained legitimate longer than they need to have, these federal audits have additionally found situations the place the states might not have even checked a driver’s immigration standing earlier than issuing a license. Investigators verify a small pattern of licenses in every state.
Duffy launched the overview this summer time, however it grew to become extra distinguished after a truck driver who was not licensed to be within the U.S. made an unlawful U-turn and precipitated a crash in Florida that killed three individuals in August. The principles on these licenses the Transportation Division is implementing have been in place for years.
The AP found letters on-line Friday that had been despatched to Texas, South Dakota, Colorado, and Washington in October.
A lot of the states which have been the main target of the investigation thus far have defended their practices and stated they had been following the federal guidelines. However Duffy has stated the excessive share of issues in some states, mixed with the defensive responses from officers, suggests a scientific downside, and he insisted Friday this effort is about security — not politics.
“When greater than half of the licenses reviewed had been issued illegally, it isn’t only a mistake — it’s a dereliction of responsibility by state management,” Duffy stated about New York on Friday.
Investigators additionally discovered that almost half of the 123 licenses reviewed in Texas had been flawed. Among the different states concerned small numbers, however a lot of the issues had been comparable. Since Duffy pressed the problem in California, the state has revoked some 21,000 business driver’s licenses that had been issued improperly.
The Transportation Division has threatened to withhold federal freeway funding from these states — together with $182 million in Texas and $160 million in California — in the event that they don’t reform their licensing packages and invalidate any flawed licenses.
Thus far, no state has misplaced cash as a result of they complied or as a result of they’ve extra time to reply. However as a part of a separate overview, California misplaced $40 million for failing to implement English language necessities for truckers that the Trump administration started implementing this summer time.
States defend their licensing practices
New York State Division of Motor Automobiles spokesperson Walter McClure stated the state is following all of the federal guidelines.
“Secretary Duffy is mendacity about New York State as soon as once more in a determined try and distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents. Right here is the reality: Business Drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Authorities, and New York State DMV has, and can proceed to, adjust to federal guidelines,” McClure stated in a press release.
Duffy has beforehand threatened to tug federal funding from New York if the state didn’t abandon its plan to cost drivers a congestion pricing charge in New York Metropolis and if crime on the subway system was not addressed. The Transportation Division additionally put $18 billion of funding on maintain for 2 main infrastructure initiatives in New York, together with a brand new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York Metropolis and New Jersey, due to considerations about whether or not the spending was based mostly on variety, fairness and inclusion rules.
A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated in a press release that “public security is the Governor’s high precedence, and we should be certain that truckers can navigate Texas roadways safely and effectively. To assist this mission, Governor Abbott directed the Texas Division of Public Security to strictly implement English language proficiency necessities and to cease issuing intrastate business driver’s licenses to drivers who don’t meet these requirements.”
A lot of the different states have stated they’re working to handle the considerations the Transportation Division raised.
Earlier efforts to limit immigrant truck drivers
Immigrants account for about 20% of all truck drivers, however these non-domiciled licenses solely symbolize about 5% of all business driver’s licenses or about 200,000 drivers. The Transportation Division additionally proposed new restrictions that may severely restrict which noncitizens might get a license, however a court docket put the brand new guidelines on maintain.
Trucking commerce teams have praised the trouble to get unqualified drivers and drivers who can’t communicate English off the highway together with the Transportation Division’s actions final week to go after questionable business driver’s license colleges. However immigrant advocacy teams have raised considerations these actions have led to harassment of immigrant drivers and prompted a few of them to desert the occupation.
“For too lengthy, loopholes on this program have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, placing skilled truckers and the motoring public in danger,” stated Todd Spencer, who’s president of the Proprietor Operator Impartial Drivers Affiliation.
Related Press writers Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, and Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey, all contributed to this report.
