WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has warned that Illinois will lose $128 million in federal highway funding if it doesn't revoke the illegally issued licenses to non-domiciled commercial drivers in the state.
Secretary Duffy said Tuesday that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)'s review of Illinois' non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses program found nearly one in five licenses to non-domiciled commercial drivers in the state were issued illegally. Illinois has 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the illegally issued licenses-or risk losing $128 million in federal highway funding.
In a letter sent to Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Director of Driver Services Kevin Duesterhaus, FMCSA outlined the audit's findings of how the state illegally issued non-domiciled CDLs to drivers whose licenses were valid long after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired, and drivers without Illinois first verifying the individual's lawful presence in the U.S.
The Department of Transportation is demanding that Illinois take corrective measures to avoid funding being withheld.
The state administration has been urged to immediately pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs; Identify all unexpired non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with FMCSA regulations; Revoke and reissue all non-compliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the federal requirements; and Conduct a comprehensive internal audit to identify all procedural and programming errors, training and quality assurance problems, insufficient policies and practices, and other issues that have resulted in the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs that did not meet Federal rules.
Last year, the Department of Transportation launched a nationwide non-domiciled CDL audit, which has uncovered glaring compliance failures in several states, including California, New York, and Pennsylvania.
In June, Secretary Duffy announced a nationwide audit of states issuing non-domiciled CDLs and unveiled a pro-trucker package.
'I need our state partners to understand that they work for the American people, not illegal immigrants who broke the law illegally entering our country and continue to break it by operating massive big rigs without the proper qualifications,' said Transportation Secretary Duffy. 'Biden and Buttigieg forced Americans to share their roads with unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers, but the Trump Administration is putting the needs of American families first where they belong.'
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
