(The Center Square) \u2013 A suspected terrorist arrested in Kansas earlier this month is a licensed truck driver in Pennsylvania, according to federal authorities.<\/p>\n
Akhror Bozorov fled his native Uzbekistan after law enforcement there issued an arrest warrant in late 2022. The 31-year-old, not an American citizen, is accused of recruiting on behalf of an unnamed jihadist terrorist group and distributing its propaganda online.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Bozorov crossed the southern border in February 2023, where he was apprehended, released and given work authorization before receiving a commercial truck driver\u2019s license in Pennsylvania in July.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued Monday, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin skewered the former Biden administration for allowing \u201ccountless terrorists to come into our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only was Akhror Bozorov \u2013 a wanted\u00a0terrorist\u00a0\u2013 released\u00a0into the country by the Biden administration, but he was he was also given a commercial driver\u2019s license by Governor Shapiro\u2019s Pennsylvania,\u201d she said<\/a>. \u201cThis should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should not be operating 18-wheelers on America\u2019s highways.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexis Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, told The Center Square that the agency reviews “the necessary immigration and naturalization documents” for non-citizen applicants, which confirms legal status “in real-time,” using DHS’s SAVE database.<\/p>\n “If the applicant clears the federal SAVE process, which confirms the applicant is residing in the U.S. under legal status, and successfully meets all other criteria, a license is issued,” she said. “PennDOT completes these two checks to confirm legal status with the federal government every time it issues a license to a non-citizen, and has followed this process without exception in 2025.”<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Republican Party, however, wants answers. In a statement issued Tuesday, Chairman Greg Rothman demanded a \u201cfull and immediate investigation\u201d into how Bozorov was granted a CDL in the commonwealth.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just a policy failure, this is a national security breach right here in Pennsylvania,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cHow in the world did someone with terrorist ties pass every check to get behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler in our state? And a Real ID at that? The people who signed off on this need to be found, fired, and Governor Shapiro must answer for this.\u201d<\/p>\n Bozorov\u2019s case is just the latest in a string of arrests that underscore the trucking industry\u2019s growing concern over lackadaisical enforcement of licensing rules that require drivers to pass the test in written English.<\/p>\n In October, Homeland Security arrested Anmol Anmol, who was issued a New York commercial driver\u2019s license under the name \u201cNo Name Given Anmol.\u201d U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents discovered his status during a highway inspection in Oklahoma, where he was taken into custody and placed in removal proceedings.<\/p>\n A month earlier, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered states to pause the issuance<\/a>\u00a0of nondomiciled CDLs to drivers on temporary visas, citing public safety concerns.<\/p>\n The rule came too late for three people killed in a crash on the Florida turnpike when an 18-wheeler driven by Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on the divided highway.<\/p>\n