President Donald Trump warned Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro that he will withhold $75 million in federal funding from the state unless all commercial driver’s licenses issued to illegal aliens are revoked immediately.

The announcement comes just days after the arrest of 31-year-old Akhror Bozorov, who was apprehended in Kansas on November 9 after obtaining a commercial drivers license (CDL in Pennsylvania. Uzbekistan had issued a warrant for his arrest in 2022, accusing him of belonging to a terrorist group, spreading jihadist propaganda online, and recruiting others to join the movement.

Bozorov’s case is the latest high-profile arrest involving a foreign national who was able to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL)  despite requirements preventing illegal aliens, as well as those who cannot pass English proficiency tests, from obtaining CDLs.

On November 19, 2025, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), under the U.S. Department of Transportation led by Secretary Sean Duffy, issued a preliminary determination of noncompliance to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Transportation Secretary Michael B. Carroll.

The letter, signed by FMCSA Administrator Derek D. Bans, stems from a 2025 Annual Program Review (APR) that uncovered procedural and programming errors in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) issuance of non-domiciled CDLS and commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) to foreign drivers.

Specifically, PennDOT was found to have issued approximately 12,436 such licenses, with sampled records revealing violations including extending license validity beyond drivers’ lawful U.S. presence, failing to verify lawful presence with required documents like unexpired employment authorization documents (EADs) or foreign passports with I-94 forms, and issuing non-domiciled CDLs to lawful permanent residents eligible for regular licenses

The APR sampled 150 records and identified multiple issues, such as two cases where non-domiciled CDLs expired well after the drivers’ lawful presence documents. Four transactions lacked evidence of lawful presence verification due to PennDOT’s licensing system not capturing immigration credential types. Additionally, two instances involved issuing non-domiciled CDLs to U.S. lawful permanent residents.

To achieve substantial compliance, Pennsylvania must immediately pause all new, renewed, transferred, or upgraded non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs until FMCSA approves a corrective plan. The state is required to conduct a comprehensive internal audit of all 12,400+ unexpired non-domiciled licenses, identify and void noncompliant ones, review supporting documentation for all transactions, and implement fixes for procedural, training, and policy issues.

“If FMCSA issues a final determination of substantial noncompliance, the Agency may withhold up to four percent of the National Highway Performance Program and the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program funds beginning in Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 that would otherwise be apportioned to Pennsylvania under 23 U.S.C. § 104(b)(1) and (2). Accordingly, upon a final determination of substantial noncompliance, Pennsylvania risks losing up to approximately $75,500,000 for FY 2027,” Bans wrote.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has issued a thorough review of commercial drivers licenses issued to foreign nationals in all 50 states

The notice to Pennsylvania comes just over a week after California announced that it would be complying with the Trump Administration’s demands after similar threats of withheld funding.

Duffy has issued a thorough review of the issuance of CDLs to foreign nationals in all 50 states, and updated the federal government’s policies for which visa holders can apply for one, following several high-profile accidents involving tractor-trailers being driven by illegal aliens.

Harjinder Singh, 28, faces three charges of vehicular homicide and faces up to 45 years in prison after he allegedly performed an illegal u-turn on the Florida Turnpike last month. Footage from the cab of Singh’s tractor trailer shows him swinging the massive vehicle around, causing a catastrophic accident behind him.

Singh illegally entered the country by way of India six years ago and was able to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License in California.

In response, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that all employment visas for truck drivers would be immediately halted. “Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers,” Rubio posted on X. “The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.”

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