The ongoing revelations of the number of illegal immigrants driving 18-wheelers who are completely unqualified to do so continue to be more and more frightening. It is yet another consequence of the four years of Biden administration open border policy. While the Trump administration is working to find these unqualified drivers and remove them from the country, the same usual suspect list of blue states who have facilitated this nightmare keeps coming up in federal investigations. Many of these drivers have been issued licenses in places like New York and California. But there is another blue state also handing out licenses like candy.
A source just told me that ICE is going to truckstops in sprinter vans and rounding up illegal drivers.
— Craig Fuller 🛩🚛🚂⚓️ (@FreightAlley) February 19, 2026
In one report, they collected 30+ in just 2 hrs.
This is politically safe - after all, angry liberal women are not upset about truck drivers being rounded up.
Illinois is the latest hotspot for the issuing of commercial driver's licenses (CDL) to non-resident immigrants. According to a new Department of Transportation (DOT) report, nearly one-in-five CDLs, issued in the Land of Lincoln, went to non-residents. A letter, to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and Director of Driver Services Kevin Duesterhaus from DOT, states that out of 150 licenses issued to non-residents, 29 were illegally issued. In total, Illinois has issued a whopping 10,088 commercial learner's permits (CLP) and CDLs that are unexpired to non-domiciled applicants. The DOT report goes on to say that licenses that were issued were valid well after the applicants' legal residency in the U.S. had expired which essentially allowed them to remain in the country, and even use the licenses as a form of "valid" identification.
READ MORE: Duffy Drops the Hammer on Hochul, Says NY Has 30 Days to Fix CDL Licenses for Illegals or Lose $73M
The DOT is playing hardball, and giving Illinois 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the illegal licenses or risk losing roughly $128 million in federal highway funds. They have also ordered the state to:
“immediately pause the issuance of all new, renewed, transferred, amended, corrected, reprinted, or upgraded non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs until FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) provides written confirmation that the State’s corrective action plan has been accepted and implemented.”
After an illegal immigrant from Kyrgyzstan drove into oncoming traffic in Indiana, killing four people, Sen. Jim Banks sets up "truck safe tip line" to report on truckers who aren't legally in the US or who can't meet English-language requirements. https://t.co/jiQM4wGFC3
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) February 10, 2026
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has had about enough as well, and stated:
“I need our state partners to understand that they work for the American people, not illegal immigrants who broke the law illegally entering our country and continue to break it by operating massive big rigs without the proper qualifications. Biden and Buttigieg forced Americans to share their roads with unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers, but the Trump Administration is putting the needs of American families first where they belong.”
At RedState, we have been covering the disturbing issue of illegal immigrants driving big rig trucks who are not proficient in English and cannot read road signs extensively. My colleague, Ward Clark recently reported that as many as 550 commercial driving schools, many of them in California, will be forced to close after inspectors found such things as unqualified instructors, who in turn, failed to properly test students, as well as other safety issues.
ALSO READ: Nationwide CDL Scandal: 550+ Schools Fail Safety Standards, Face Shutdown
Duffy is clearly done playing footsie on this issue with both Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, both of whiom have been mentioned as possible 2028 Democratic presidential hopefuls. In January, Duffy announced $160 million in federal funding would be withheld from California for failing to revoke 17,000 illegal CDLs by the deadline of January 5.
J.B. Pritzker, in between walks around the lakefront to lose a few pounds and get in shape for his White House run, may want to take note of Newsom's failure, and what might happen to his state if he doesn't clean up his illegal trucker mess.
This can be fixed!
— OldSarge USMC/USAR (@oldsarge2024) February 19, 2026
1. STOP ALL TRUCKS!
2. Search them for ILLEGAL ALIENS.
3. DEPORT THEM ALL!https://t.co/0cq2RYBniv
ICE and CBP continue to put themselves in harm's way in order to protect America’s sovereignty and to keep our streets safe.
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