DOT Tightens Noncitizen CDL Rules After Audit

The U.S. Transportation Department announced an immediate tightening of rules for noncitizens seeking commercial driver’s licenses on Friday, saying the move follows a nationwide audit spurred by three fatal crashes this year that investigators say involved drivers who should not have qualified for such licenses. The agency ordered all states to pause issuing commercial licenses to noncitizens until they can meet the new requirements and warned one state it could lose federal highway funding if it fails to act.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the audit, prompted by an August U-turn crash on Florida’s Turnpike that killed three people, found other fatal crashes this year in Texas and Alabama involving drivers who officials contend should not have held commercial licenses. The audit identified improper license issuance in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Washington, Duffy said, and investigators found that one in four of 145 commercial licenses for noncitizens issued in California since June should not have been issued under existing rules.

"We have a government system designed to keep American families on the road safe. But that system has been...