Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said on Tuesday he was pulling an additional $160 million in federal funding from California over the state issuing commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to illegal immigrants, warning that revoking the state’s ability to issue those licenses was on the table.
The Transportation Department accused California on Thursday of ignoring stricter guidelines for non-citizens applying for CDLs issued in September after an illegal immigrant driving a tractor-trailer killed three people in an accident near Ontario, California, on Oct. 21 while allegedly driving under the influence of drugs. Duffy told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night that the department was conducting a “quick review” of the state’s failure to comply with regulations in the aftermath of the fatal wreck.
“One guy who’s decided to up his game is [Democratic Gov.] Gavin Newsom [of California], the podcaster, and he is… doesn’t seem relatively ambivalent with the truck driver [who] doesn’t speak the language [who] ended up killing some people over the weekend. You are withholding funds from California,” “Fox and Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade observed to Duffy, who responded, “We have withheld $40 million because they weren’t enforcing the English proficiency requirements. You gotta speak English, you gotta understand road signs, you gotta be able to talk to law enforcement. If you get pulled over or there is a crash, law enforcement has to be able to communicate with you. So, $40 million for that.”
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“Then there is a requirement that, an option, that you could come from Wisconsin to California and get a non-domiciled CDL. It was for Americans. The Democrats have contorted the law to allow people who are in the country… unlawfully, to get these licenses,” Duffy continued, with Kilmeade cutting in to add, “Who failed the test ten times.”
After a deadly August accident allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant who attempted to make an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway that left three people dead, the Department of Transportation tightened guidelines for issuing CDLs to non-citizens. The illegal immigrant reportedly failed an English proficiency test given by investigators and was unable to identify three out of four traffic signs.
“They are getting the licenses now from other parts of the country and they’re issuing the licenses against the law and so I’m going to pull another $160 million from Gavin,” Duffy said, with Kilmeade responding, “Really?”
“That’s just the start. There is millions more,” Duffy said. “We can actually revoke their ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses.”
Duffy announced he would yank $40 million in federal funds from California during an Oct. 15 appearance on Fox Business Network. Newsom has opposed the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including filing lawsuits against the deployment of the National Guard to address riots targeting United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and facilities.
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