The Trump administration is threatening to hit Pennsylvania where it hurts, warning the state it could lose tens of millions in federal dollars after a suspected terrorist managed to snag a commercial truck license.
Federal officials say Pennsylvania broke safety rules by handing out non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses to foreign nationals who shouldn’t have qualified. In a letter to state leaders, the Department of Transportation said Pennsylvania issued CDLs to migrants without verifying their legal status. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the agency will withhold $75 million in federal funding unless Harrisburg cleans up its CDL program quickly.
The fight erupted after the arrest of Akhror Bozorov, an illegal migrant from Uzbekistan accused back home of ties to terrorism. Bozorov, who authorities say spread jihadist propaganda online and recruited for extremist groups, picked up a Pennsylvania-issued CDL before immigration agents arrested him this month.
“Under President Trump, this Department is taking every measure to ensure dangerous foreign drivers aren’t illegally operating 40-ton vehicles on American roads,” Duffy said Thursday.
“Joe Biden allowed tens of millions of illegals to pour into our country through open borders, including a suspected terrorist who Pennsylvania then allowed to get behind the wheel of a semitruck,” he said. “I will continue to fight to get these dangerous drivers off our roads to protect American families and support our national security.”
Sean Duffy is sworn in as transportation secretary by Vice President J.D. Vance
A review by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found “numerous failures” inside Pennsylvania’s licensing system. According to the letter, those shortcomings included extending CDL expiration dates beyond a migrant’s lawful stay and failing to require proof of legal presence before issuing a license.
DOT officials are ordering Pennsylvania to halt all new or upgraded CDL issuances, audit past licenses, and strip unqualified drivers off the road to avoid losing federal cash.
“Following the release of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association’s (FMCSA) Interim Final Rule on September 29, 2025, PennDOT immediately paused issuing all non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs),” PennDOT spokesperson Alexis Campbell told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “PennDOT fully cooperated with FMCSA’s regularly-scheduled audit – and out of 150 cases the federal government audited, FMSCA did not identify a single commercial driver’s license issued to someone who was not eligible.”
Campbell said all applicants must show “proof of identity and must have their legal presence in this country verified through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.”
“The Department is reviewing FMCSA’s letter and will respond within the required timeline,” she said.
The flare-up marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to crack down on foreign commercial drivers after several deadly crashes involving illegal migrants behind the wheel.
Under emergency DOT rules rolled out earlier this year, non-citizens seeking a non-domiciled CDL must pass federal immigration checks and hold a valid employment-based visa. The tougher standards, which don’t typically apply to green-card holders, were designed to keep illegal migrants with limited English off American highways.
Democratic-aligned labor groups sued to block the policy in October. An appeals court paused enforcement this month while the case moves forward.
DOT has already yanked $40 million from California after accusing state officials of ignoring federal English proficiency rules and improperly issuing 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs to migrant drivers. Now the department is threatening to cut another $160 million if the state refuses to comply.
The issue of illegal immigration has been a central focus of the United States government for many years, but under President Donald Trump, federal detention centers saw a significant surge in the number of individuals being held.
According to recent reports, the number of illegal immigrants in federal detention centers has increased by a staggering 50% since Trump took office, with the U.S. government now holding around 60,000 individuals in long-term detention facilities.
This rise in detention numbers is part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration that Trump pursued during his presidency, a policy that attracted both support and criticism from various political groups.
The increase in detention has sparked significant concern, especially from immigrant rights advocates, who argue that the policies and practices surrounding the detention of immigrants are inhumane and do not align with American values of justice and fairness.
At the close of the Biden administration, approximately 39,000 illegal immigrants were being held in detention centers across the country. This marked a sharp contrast to the situation under Trump, where the number of detained individuals surged dramatically, reaching the record high of 60,000.
This surge comes as the Trump administration’s immigration policies emphasized the expansion of detention facilities and a stronger push toward deportations, leading to an increase in the number of immigrants detained for long periods.
One of the most controversial detention centers associated with the Trump administration is the facility referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz,” located in the Florida Everglades.
The center has drawn widespread criticism for its poor conditions and its location, which is in a remote area of Florida. Critics have argued that the facility is part of a broader pattern of abuses in the detention system, with allegations of inadequate care, insufficient medical treatment, and a lack of proper facilities for those detained.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 17: People hold signs that read “Mass Deportation Now” and “Make America Strong Again” on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In response to the growing concerns over these detention centers, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who was appointed by President Obama, ordered the closure of Alligator Alcatraz, citing environmental concerns about its impact on the surrounding area.
However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has made it clear that he will not be deterred by this ruling, signaling that the state’s efforts to house illegal immigrants in detention centers are not going to stop anytime soon.
Despite the ruling, the Trump administration has continued to push forward with its efforts to expand the number of detention centers. Over the past two months, the administration has moved to dramatically increase the number of detention facilities available to house the growing number of illegal immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
As part of this expansion, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced in June that Indiana’s Camp Atterbury and New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst would be used to temporarily house detainees.
These two facilities, located in Indiana and New Jersey, will be outfitted as “soft-sided holding facilities,” a term that refers to the use of temporary, tent-like structures and fencing to secure the detainees.
These temporary setups are similar to the setup used at Alligator Alcatraz, further raising concerns about the conditions in which the detainees are being housed.
The move to use military bases for holding detainees marks a significant shift in the approach to immigration detention, with the Trump administration seeking to house detainees in a more secure and isolated manner.
In addition to these temporary holding facilities, the Trump administration has also made plans to build the nation’s largest detention center in Texas. In July, the administration announced a $1.2 billion contract to build a massive detention center at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
This new facility will have the capacity to house up to 5,000 illegal immigrants as part of the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration. The construction of this facility further underscores the administration’s commitment to increasing detention capacity and expanding the government’s ability to hold immigrants in custody while they await deportation.
The push to expand detention facilities and increase the number of detained immigrants has been met with significant opposition from Democrats, immigrant rights groups, and many members of the general public.
Critics argue that the Trump administration’s policies are excessively punitive and undermine the rights and dignity of immigrants, many of whom are seeking asylum or fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries.
For these critics, the rise in the number of individuals held in detention centers represents a broader failure of the U.S. immigration system, which they believe should prioritize fairness and humanitarian concerns over punishment and deterrence.
Meanwhile, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, has been vocal in calling for the preservation of records related to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Last fall, Jordan sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting that they preserve all records related to the enforcement of federal immigration laws during the years of the Trump administration.
Jordan expressed concerns that key records related to the border crisis and immigration enforcement might be destroyed before the new administration took office, and he sought to ensure that these records were maintained for future review.
The preservation of these records is part of a larger effort to document and investigate the actions taken by the Trump administration regarding immigration, and it reflects the growing desire among Republicans to ensure that the policies implemented during Trump’s time in office are not forgotten or erased.
However, the controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s immigration policies continues to shape the political debate in the U.S., with many Democrats and advocacy groups calling for a reevaluation of the detention and deportation system.
As the Biden administration took office, it moved swiftly to introduce new policies aimed at easing restrictions on migrants who entered the U.S. illegally. Sources report that one of the focal points of these changes was New York City, where the outgoing Trump administration had implemented an ICE Portal app to allow migrants to check in with ICE remotely, rather than in person.
This app, which was introduced in early December, was designed to make it easier for immigrants to comply with ICE’s reporting requirements without having to make an in-person visit to an ICE office.
However, some sources within the Department of Homeland Security raised concerns about the effectiveness and reliability of the app, noting that glitches in the software could allow migrants to evade detection by ICE.
These concerns highlight the ongoing challenges faced by the government in trying to balance enforcement with the rights of immigrants. The use of technology to manage immigration cases is a relatively new development, and its long-term effectiveness remains to be seen.
As the political battle over immigration policy continues, the number of illegal immigrants detained in federal facilities is expected to remain a key point of contention.
The Trump administration’s focus on detention and deportation has left a lasting impact on the nation’s immigration system, and the consequences of these policies will continue to be felt long after Trump’s presidency ended.
While the Biden administration has taken steps to roll back some of these measures, the legacy of Trump’s immigration policies remains a major issue in the ongoing debate over how best to address the challenges posed by illegal immigration.
As the number of illegal immigrants in detention centers continues to rise, the debate over how to reform the U.S. immigration system will likely remain a central issue in American politics.
Whether future administrations will continue to pursue punitive immigration policies or shift toward a more compassionate and humanitarian approach remains to be seen. However, one thing is clear: the issue of immigration will continue to shape the nation’s political landscape for years to come.