As I have been covering for months, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is leading a nationwide effort to remove dangerous truck drivers from American roadways. The deaths of several American citizens at the hands of illegal truck drivers prompted Duffy to initiate a full scale audit into the practices of several states, mostly blue, related to the issuance of commercial drivers licenses (CDL) and learning permits, particularly to noncitizens.
Duffy’s final rule, which drastically tightened the requirements for noncitizens to receive a CDL, took effect earlier this year after a court battle over a lawsuit brought by a few CDL holders and union organizations. (That battle is not quite over, more to come.) Some states have refused to cooperate with the DOT, resulting in threats to cut federal highways funds and even the revocation of the state’s entire CDL program.
But Duffy’s hands were tied in terms of holding drivers, their employers, and state licensing agencies accountable. Until today.
During a press conference in Detroit this morning, Duffy—joined by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Derek Barrs, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and White House Fraud task force vice chairman Andrew Ferguson—announced the creation of an interagency group to expose fraud in the nation’s trucking industry. Those agencies include the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Homeland Security Investigation.
“The initiative focuses on CDL fraud, unauthorized employment, identity-document fraud, financial crime, money laundering, labor exploitation, and potential links to human smuggling, drug trafficking, and cartel activity,” Duffy said. The press conference coincided with a “synchronized surge” at more than 200 driving schools across 23 states to ensure the schools were following federal law; the DOT has already shut down hundreds of CDL schools for issuing permits drivers who did not meet English proficiency standards or employing unqualified instructors.
Since early 2025, according to Duffy, the DOT has removed 28,000 truck drivers from the roads for failing to speak English, a federal requirement. The move followed an executive order issued by President Trump last year to enforce the English language law for truck drivers.
A separate initiative entitled “Crossroads of America” focuses on four states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. All nine U.S. Attorneys from those states will task investigators and prosecutors with enforcing the laws and bringing charges if needed. Jerome Gorgon, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, pointed to the busy nexus of I-75, I-65, and I-94 stretching from Ohio to Illinois as a hot spot to find illegal truck drivers, with more than 2 million trucks passing through each year. “Many of these trucks are driven by foreign nationals and illegal aliens who lack the proper training to safely drive 40 tons of truck and cargo across America on our highways,” Gorgon said.
More clips of today’s presser here:
Vice President JD Vance also weighed in:
Another follow through and win for the administration, which has been the only one (ever?) to tackle this truly deadly problem. Driver by driver, we need to identify all the illegals; the non-English speakers; the incompetent; the criminals and the drivers who have a long history of accidents. Then the roads might be a bit safer to drive!
This is very good news.