New York is the latest state Duffy has targeted in his effort to make sure truck and bus drivers are qualified to get licenses.
The campaign started after 3 people were killed when their vehicle ran into a transport truck driven by an illegal alien who was making a U-turn on a Florida highway.
Duffy said federal investigators found that more than half of the 200 licenses they reviewed in New York were issued improperly with many of them defaulting to be valid for eight years regardless of when an immigrant's work permit expires. And he said the state couldn't prove it had verified these drivers' immigration status for the 32,000 active non-domiciled commercial licenses it has issued.
“When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake — it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership. Gov. (Kathy) Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses,” Duffy said.
New York has 30 days to respond to these concerns. Hochul’s office did not immediately comment Friday.
Duffy has threatened to withhold millions in federal funding from California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota after the audits found significant problems under the existing rules like commercial licenses being valid long after an immigrant truck driver’s work permit expired. That pressure prompted California to revoke 17-thousand licenses.
