DOT Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday announced some "alarming findings" from an audit of non-domiciled CDL issuance in New York, and now the state face losing "tens of millions" in federal funding.
With the news, New York now joins California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota as states specifically called and threatened with funding cuts by DOT for bad licensing practices.
"As we’ve done this nationwide audit," Duffy said, referencing the audit of non-domiciled CDL issuance ordered by President Donald Trump in April. "We’ve found the worst offender, New York."
Duffy said that "53% of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued unlawfully or illegally," referencing a Preliminary Determination of Noncompliance letter that said 107 of 200 non-domiciled CDLs reviewed by DOT failed to comply with federal regs.
New York has issued 32,606 non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs that remain unexpired, the letter said.
"What New York does is if an applicant comes in work authorziation for 30 days, 60 days, one year, New York automatically issues them an 8 year CDL that’s contrary to the law," said Duffy. "New York, many times, won’t even verify whether they have a work authorization, a visa, or they’re in the country legally"
"What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight," Administrator Derek Barrs of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said. "It's a systematically, grossly unacceptable deviation from the rules that have been on the books a long time."
FMCSA's letter to New York described an annual review of the state's licensing program and found in a sample of 200 that 101 times New York issued a CDL for a term longer than the applicant's legal stay in the country. The letter also described six cases where New York did not provide evidence of the applicant's legal status.
These practices are "endangering the lives of American families," said Duffy, who said the state would face the loss of "tens of millions of dollars."
Furthermore, "New York has issued" CDLs to drivers "whose lawful presence had already expired," said Barrs.
Duffy regretted that he now had to threaten New York's funding, but gave the state 30 days to "come into compliance with the rules that have been longstanding with the rules."
Barrs said New York must now completely shut down non-domiciled CDL issuance and review and revoke all wrongly issued CDLs.
New York DMV spokesperson Walter McClure offered a forceful rebuttal of DOT's statements.
“Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents. Here is the truth: Commercial Drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules. Every CDL we issue is subject to verification of an applicant's lawful status through federally-issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations. This is just another stunt from Secretary Duffy, and it does nothing to keep our roads safer. We will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.”
New York had previously been called out by the Department of Homeland Security as "corrupt" when immigration enforcement found an "illegal alien" truck driver with a New York CDL and "No Name Given" as a first name. DHS didn't explain the exact corruption alleged, and New York said that the federal government's policy manual on CDL issuance allows "No Name Given" as a first name.
In July, Overdrive contacted all 50 states to survey how many non-domiciled CDLs they'd issued. Overdrive filed a Freedom of Information Law request with New York State in early May asking how many non-domiciled CDLs it had issued, and after 56 days, New York responded that it would cost $495 to fill the request.
With 32,000 active non-domiciled CDLs in circulation, New York may be the country's biggest issuer, perhaps only behind California.
