Trump’s Transportation Secretary Slams Radical State AGs' Lawsuit to Obstruct Data Sharing, Shield Illegal Immigrant Truck Drivers from the Law

‘We will fight this lawsuit tooth and nail to prevent more senseless crashes by unqualified drivers’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy today released the following statement slamming a radical legal effort by 21 states and the District of Columbia to block the federal government from accessing data it needs to keep America’s roads free of dangerous illegal immigrant truck drivers. 

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Watch Secretary Duffy talk about how liberal states are siding with illegal truck drivers over the safety of American citizens HERE

The lawsuit was filed the day after the one year anniversary following the August 12, 2025, Florida Turnpike crash. The tragic three-fatality collision involved an undocumented driver who was operating a commercial vehicle with an illegally issued license.

“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.”

Reminder:

Since President Trump issued the Executive Order to restore integrity to the trucking industry in April 2025, Secretary Duffy and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have:

• 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.

Additional Information:

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.

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