The United States Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, confirmed on Thursday, April 16, through a statement on a platform, that the federal government will stop providing $73 million in highway construction funding to New York State. This decision was made due to New York State’s failure to comply with strict federal regulations on screening immigrant truck drivers.
According to the New York Post, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a strongly worded letter on Thursday warning the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), under the administration of Governor Hochul, that if the state does not adhere to the strict screening requirements for immigrant truck drivers, Washington may withhold an additional $147 million in highway funding.
“I will cease the $73 million funding for road construction in New York State until they comply with our regulations to ensure that foreign truck drivers undergo rigorous screening and are qualified,” Duffy wrote on the platform. “The Department of Transportation will not fund Governor Hochul’s risky anti-American policies. That’s final.”
Duffy also told the Post that the New York State DMV has “refused” to comply with prior requests from the Department of Transportation to evaluate thousands of Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) and revoke those held by non-residents whose work permits have expired. He stated, “My message to the far-left leadership in New York is clear: families must come first on America’s roads.”
The background of this action by the Department of Transportation lies in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) audit of the New York DMV last year, which found that half of the 200 sampled non-resident commercial driver’s licenses had expiry dates several years longer than the drivers’ work permits. This situation was estimated to be the case for approximately 32,000 commercial driver’s licenses statewide.
The FMCSA stated that the New York State DMV acknowledged that regardless of a non-citizen’s work permit duration, they would typically be granted an eight-year driver’s license. The FMCSA instructed New York State to rectify these issues.
However, New York State maintains that they have been following through since the Department of Transportation imposed new stringent restrictions on non-resident truck drivers earlier this year, and thus, they are not legally obligated to comply with additional federal demands, such as retroactively reviewing previously issued licenses.
In a statement to the media, the Governor’s office asserted that the federal allegations are “baseless” and that New York State has been issuing commercial driver’s licenses in accordance with federal regulations.