U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened to withhold $75 million in federal funding from Pennsylvania amid scrutiny about how the state issues commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants.

The secretary asserted in a press release on Thursday that Pennsylvania has “illegally issued licenses” to ineligible noncitizens. As an example, he cited the case of 31-year-old Uzbekistan native Akhror Bozorov, who was found to have suspected terrorist ties in his home country. Bozorov entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 but was released and later obtained a license from PennDOT to drive trucks. He was arrested this week in Kansas by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents.

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“Not only was Akhror Bozorov – a wanted terrorist – RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration, but he was he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor (Josh) Shapiro’s Pennsylvania,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “This should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should not be operating 18-wheelers on America’s highways.”

Shapiro has pushed back, saying the problem is that the federal government’s database, which states rely on to determine a person’s eligibility for a CDL, is out of date. 

Duffy is demanding Pennsylvania make changes to how it issue commercial licenses to avoid a loss of funding. He called for an immediate pause on issuing, renewing and transferring CDLs and learner’s permits to noncitizens, in addition to rescinding all noncompliant licenses.

In a letter to Shapiro, the Trump administration said a federal audit found two out of 150 drivers it reviewed had licenses that exceeded the person’s lawful presence in the U.S. Duffy also said the state must audit every license issued in violation of federal regulations.

In recent months, the federal government has taken a hard stance on the issuing of CDLs to undocumented immigrants. In August, a tractor-trailer driver who was in the country illegally caused a crash in Florida that killed three people. Another semi-truck driver in the country illegally was involved in a crash on a California freeway in October, killing three people and injuring four more in a collision prosecutors say was caused by intoxicated driving. 

Duffy, who this week also released a video imploring for more civility among air travelers during the holiday, said Pennsylvania has been issuing CDLs with expiration dates that exceed the time immigrant drivers are authorized to stay in the country. He also accused the state of not requiring proof of their lawful presence in the U.S. before issuing CDLs. The Department of Transportation also is taking aim at California, Colorado, New York and a handful of other states.

Shapiro said this week PennDOT stopped issuing CDLs to noncitizens in September after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration put out a new regulation restricting which immigrants can receive them, the Associated Press reported. That guidance was temporarily paused this week by a federal appeals court, which reviewed a petition filed by a truck driver and unions representing teachers and government workers. The court’s ruling questioned the Trump administration’s safety warning. Federal data show the CDLs in question account for about 5% of all license holders, but only 0.2% of fatal crashes.

Shapiro argues any questionable CDLs issued in Pennsylvania are a reflection of problems with the federal database – called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or SAVE – that state transportation departments use when vetting applicants, the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reported.

“They’ve got to get better because every single state in the country relies on this database when making a determination as to who qualifies for a CDL,” Shapiro said.

A group of Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania recently questioned PennDOT about CDL issuance in a letter signed by Sen. Jarrett Coleman and – among others – Sen. Doug Mastriano, the far-right Republican who Shapiro defeated in the governor’s race in 2022. The letter claimed 12 people with Pennsylvania-issued CDLs were arrested for immigration violations by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in October as part of a wider crackdown that netted dozens of arrests.

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Treasury Secretary Stacy Garrity, Shapiro’s potential Republican opponent in the 2026 gubernatorial race, posted a photo of Shapiro on Facebook referencing the questions surrounding PennDOT with the message, “Someone must be held accountable.”

PennDOT secretary Mike Carroll and Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt wrote a letter this week to leaders of the General Assembly, Attorney General Dave Sunday and Auditor General Tim DeFoor disputing allegations that the state does not follow federal rules for CDLs.

“Under current law, undocumented immigrants may not obtain driver’s licenses in Pennsylvania – period,” the letter said. “All non-citizens who apply for driver’s licenses, including commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), must provide PennDOT with proof of identity and must have their legal presence in this country verified through the federal (SAVE) database.”