WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Today, Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) delivered the following opening statement in a hearing to examine the public safety threats associated with the issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to inadmissible aliens.

As prepared for delivery: 

Today, this Subcommittee will examine a serious and growing threat to public safety and to the rule of law: the issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses to illegal aliens unlawfully present in the United States.

Commercial truck drivers are the backbone of the American economy. Every day, they transport food, fuel, medicine, and other critical supplies all across the United States and enable every-day life to continue without disruption. Currently, under federal law, individual states are responsible for the issuance of CDLs, but they must do so in strict compliance with standards set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The FMCSA requires that in order for a state to issue a non-domiciled CDL, they must require that the individual be legally present in the United States, and meet minimum standards for testing, identity, and verification. The FMCSA also requires that non-citizens have a basic understanding of the English language to read and understand road signs.

Yet recent Department of Transportation audits have revealed alarming failures by states in compliance with these requirements. For example, in Illinois, one in five non-domiciled CDL’s failed to meet federal standards. Last November, the Department of Transportation found that California had illegally issued 17,000 non-domiciled CDL’s.  

A 2025 audit by FMCSA found that over 50 percent of non-domiciled CDL’s issued by New York were in violation of federal law.

As President Trump highlighted in his State of the Union address last week, this issue has had real and devastating consequences. In 2025 alone, at least 17 fatal crashes, resulting in 30 deaths, were caused by illegal aliens driving commercial vehicles with CDLs.

One of the most tragic examples was a crash in St. Lucie County, Florida. An illegal alien from India failed the CDL test ten times in the span of two months in the state of Washington and managed to obtain his license, however, in California. Then, drove his 18-wheeler to Florida and caused a serious vehicle incident after making an illegal U-turn, instantly killing three people. These are not paperwork errors. Rather, they represent systemic breakdowns in oversight that put American families at risk.

These tragic incidents were caused by drivers who should never have been entrusted with a commercial driver’s license in the first place. These individuals were unfit to hold that credential and, if sanctuary states would follow existing standards and laws, would not qualify to receive one. The human cost of these failures is painful. In June 2024, five-year old Dalilah Coleman was nearly killed when a tractor trailer driven by an illegal alien, carrying a fraudulent non-domiciled CDL, directly collided with the vehicle she was in. 

Following this incident, Dalilah endured a coma and months of hospitalization and had to re-learn how to walk, talk, and eat. Her recovery is nothing short of a miracle. While I am grateful Dalilah is making strong progress in her recovery, we must be clear: This tragedy should never have happened.

When the rules that protect the public are treated as optional by certain states, innocent people like Dalilah pay the price. You do not have to be a scholar to understand what a bad actor could do with a 40-ton tractor trailer, especially one hauling hazardous cargo onto highways. In the wrong hands, that vehicle is not just a truck; it’s a weapon capable of threatening public safety and our national security. 

This trend is a direct consequence of former President Biden’s open-border policy. President Biden claimed to have created more than 870,000 new CDL holders in his first year in office, the non-domiciled element is absolutely a part of that.

In contrast, the Trump administration has been working diligently to solve this issue, taking several critical steps in recent months to restore accountability and compliance with federal laws. This includes a final rule issued in February by the Department of Transportation that significantly tightens eligibility standards for receiving non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security has increased its coordination with many states looking to crack down on illegal aliens driving commercial vehicles, launching several successful operations in Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming, to name a few.

Finally, some states, like my home state of Oklahoma, have taken steps to introduce legislation to combat this problem. In May of last year, Oklahoma passed the Oklahoma Secure Roads and Safe Trucking Act of 2025, authored by State Senator Kendal Sacchieri and State Representative Jonathan Wilk, which increases the threshold of non-domiciled CDLs and requires that an individual provide proof of foreign citizenship and valid work visa, and demonstrate English language proficiency.

It is my hope that all states follow in the footsteps of Oklahoma as they look to solve this issue. Just as a side note, as Mr. Tipton is going to testify here shortly, 500 people were positioned to be removed [and] found, in a September analyzation of away stations [in] Western Oklahoma, I40, of being in violation of FMCSA. Five-hundred, in Oklahoma, in a very short time frame, showing how people come in through our state. Following suit of this change in statute is something that every state ought to be looking to replicate, every governor, because of the tens of thousands of these commercial truck drivers that are coming through your state.

Although we are righting previous wrongs, we must remain vigilant. We must make sure that states enforce the laws and keep these licenses out of the hands of unqualified people who are unlawfully present. This is not only a matter of public safety, but also a matter of national security.

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