The Trump administration is yanking $74 million in federal highway grants from the Empire State for refusing to comply with the feds\u2019 demand that it boot immigrant truck drivers with expired work authorizations off the roads, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
The US Department of Transportation warned Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s Department of Motor Vehicles, in a bombshell letter on Thursday, that continued non-compliance could lead Washington to withhold another $147 million in highway funding grants.<\/p>\n
The US DOT is yanking $74 million in grants to New York after Albany refused to rescind CDLs for migrants who had overstayed work authorizations. John Angelillo\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
\u201cI promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers. I\u2019m delivering on that promise today by refusing to fund Governor Hochul\u2019s dangerous, anti-American policies,\u201d US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy told The Post in a statement.<\/p>\n
Follow The Post\u2019s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMy message to New York\u2019s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter, obtained by The Post, asserts the New York DMV \u201crefuses\u201d to comply with the DOT\u2019s previous demands<\/a> that it assess thousands of commercial driver\u2019s licenses, or CDLs, and remove those belonging to non-residents with expired work authorizations.<\/p>\n A small audit of the DMV by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last year found that of the approximately 32,000 New York CDLs held by non-residents, half had expiration dates expanding often years beyond when their work papers had lapsed.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law,\u201d FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs said.<\/p>\n NY maintains it is not required to comply with the feds\u2019 demands. Homeland Security<\/p>\n The federal crackdown comes amid a number of high-profile accidents involving migrant truck drivers, including a Florida wreck that left three dead<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n New York DMV staff admitted to the feds that truckers are usually approved for an eight-year permit by default, even if they are not US citizens whose work papers last for a much shorter period of time, according to the letter, signed by Barrs.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n