President Donald Trump's administration announced what it described as a "historic" crackdown on trucking fraud at a news conference in Detroit on Monday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the move alongside Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, stating that tens of thousands of illegal drivers' licenses were issued during former President Joe Biden's administration. Duffy said millions of illegal immigrants were allowed into the country under Biden and that many were granted commercial drivers' licenses, including many who could not speak English.

The administration is shutting down 110 driving schools identified as the "greatest offenders" in granting drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants, along with 160 additional schools that, according to Duffy, lacked proper space for driving tests or employed unlicensed instructors.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Derek Barrs said each of the 110 "greatest offenders" had passed at least 10 drivers who were "subsequently cited for English language proficiency during roadside inspections by law enforcement." Federal regulations have long required commercial drivers to read and speak English well enough to converse with the public, understand traffic signs, and respond to official inquiries — a proficiency standard that has drawn renewed enforcement attention under the current administration.

Barrs cited multiple cases in which drivers who were illegally granted licenses killed people in crashes while working. "It's unacceptable. When you see people die on the road you don't forget that, and it starts right here with what I'm talking about," Barrs said.

"Our investigators went into 400 driver training schools and we found that 40% of these that we investigated did not meet the rules and the requirements of our regulations," he added.

Mullin said illegal immigrants holding commercial drivers' licenses have been a major focus of immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, noting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement found more than 100 individuals who had been granted CDLs — "and literally on the CDLs it said, 'No name given.'"

"These individuals are dangerous, and because of the failure from the previous administration, from the Biden administration, they've killed hundreds of people. And unfortunately, injured thousands," Mullin said.

The enforcement action lands amid intense regulatory focus on commercial driver training, following FMCSA's entry-level driver training requirements that took effect in 2022 and mandated standardized instruction for new CDL applicants. The scale of the shutdowns — affecting hundreds of schools nationwide — signals a broader federal push to tighten oversight of how commercial licenses are issued, an area that had drawn relatively little public attention compared with roadside enforcement.

Source: Fox Business