Twenty-one states and Washington, D.C., are effectively telling the Trump administration that they are more concerned about protecting the identities of illegal aliens than keeping American drivers safe on the roads.
That's the conclusion one can draw from stunning new lawsuits filed to keep the Department of Transportation from obtaining the identities of illegal aliens who have obtained commercial driver's licenses.
Two lawsuits filed on Thursday challenge the federal demands for Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) records containing driver names, dates of birth, license numbers, and Social Security Numbers.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are suing the Department of Transportation, DOT officials, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) over a DOT demand for AAMVA to turn over more than 17 million driver records.
A separate lawsuit from 22 states and D.C. targets the Department of Homeland Security for making an identical demand of AAMVA. Both lawsuits were filed Aug. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted the lawsuits in a public statement.
“Every administration since 1988 has had access to this basic database, so let’s be clear on what this ridiculous lawsuit is really all about. These radical state AGs want to make it harder for my Department to enforce the rules of the road and easier for dangerous illegal immigrant truck drivers to operate a big rig,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “They may not care about keeping you and your family safe, but President Trump and I do. We will fight this lawsuit tooth and nail to prevent more senseless crashes by unqualified drivers.”
“They may not care about keeping you and your family safe, but President Trump and I do. We will fight this lawsuit tooth and nail to prevent more senseless crashes by unqualified drivers.”
Duffy also railed against the lawsuits during an appearance on Fox News:
🚨LIBERAL STATES ARE SIDING WITH ILLEGAL TRUCK DRIVERS OVER THE SAFETY OF AMERICAN CITIZENS
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) August 14, 2026
22 states are suing @USDOT to block the Trump administration from getting all of the DMV files from states to verify who is driving semis. Information that we are ENTITLED to get.
It… pic.twitter.com/sNgunSNHz5
"Liberal states are siding with illegal truck drivers over the safety of American citizens," he said on X. "Twenty-two states are suing @USDOT to block the Trump administration from getting DMV files from the states to verify who is driving semis — information the federal government says it is entitled to receive. It shows how perverse these radical leftists have become."
READ MORE: See Ya: Trump Tells Drunk-Driving Foreigners to Hit the Road and Hand Over Their Visas
Your wheels may already be turning on why these states and D.C. would oppose such an investigation, even if it is in the name of a legitimate cause like public safety.
As my RedState colleague Ward Clark wrote in August, there is little stopping illegal aliens with driver's licenses from registering to vote.
As yet another case of an illegal alien registering to vote and then casting a ballot has emerged, Politico, that bastion of the left-tilted legacy media, has been forced to admit that, yes, there's a problem.
His piece cited Politico:
That’s because Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed last week that a “software error” at the Motor Vehicles Commission led to roughly 6,600 noncitizens getting added to the state’s voter rolls. About 400 of them voted, she said.
Her disclosure set off a political uproar that’s resonated well beyond New Jersey, feeding into the Trump administration’s push for voter restrictions and setting up a legal battle with the Department of Justice.
This comes amid more news that illegal aliens have registered to vote in the State of Michigan.
The Michigan attorney general's office charged six people with election law violations, alleging that five voted while not being U.S. citizens and alleging that a sixth registered a non-citizen spouse to vote.
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Thursday, following up on about 16 cases that the Michigan Secretary of State referred to her office during 2025 regarding the November 2024 general election. The attorney general's office also investigated 22 additional cases of suspected non-citizen voting or related conduct during elections held from 2009 to 2025.
Of those total 38 cases, six resulted in criminal charges. Ten of the cases were closed without charges. That leaves 22 cases still under review.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04) even got the memo.
From New Jersey to Michigan, the evidence continues to mount: Illegal aliens are registering and VOTING in American elections.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) August 13, 2026
Democrats know this — which is why they want OPEN BORDERS and OPPOSE voter ID.
This is a clear and present danger to the integrity of our elections —…
While the Democratic Party is protecting illegal alien voters, Americans have been dying on the highways. The Department of Transportation provided the actions it is taking to keep the country safe.
- Revoked over 30,000 illegally issued commercial driver’s licenses across non-compliant states.
- Removed nearly 10,000 fraudulent or unqualified CDL training providers from the federal registry.
- Enforced strict English Language Proficiency standards, placing over 26,000 non-compliant operators out of service to ensure every driver on American highways can read road signs and communicate with law enforcement.
- Closed the non-domiciled CDL loophole, cutting off unvetted foreign operators tied to dozens of fatal crashes.
As Duffy pointed out in his statement, "AAMVA operates the CDLIS database on behalf of the federal government; it is contractually and legally obligated to furnish the requested records at FMCSA's direction, with federal protection against state-level liability."
But as blue states have proven time and time again, when it comes to the Trump administration, they truly believe they are "above the law."
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