The Trump administration threatened Thursday to withhold nearly $75 million in funding if Pennsylvania does not immediately revoke what the administration claims are illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants, according to AP News.
The administration cited an audit that allegedly found two people out of 150 obtained licenses illegally.
It’s unclear how many people will be affected if the funding is revoked
Following the release of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Interim Final Rule, PennDOT immediately paused issuing all non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
PennDOT officials claim that out of the 150 cases audited by the federal government, there were no instances found of issuing a license to a driver who was ineligible.
Additionally, a PennDOT spokesperson said that all non-citizens who apply for driver’s licenses must provide proof of identity and have their legal presence in the country verified through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database – a database maintained by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
A similar situation took place in California in October, in which case U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he would pull $160 million in federal funding after claims that the state had illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens.
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