Minnesota faces crackdown on 'illegal' foreign CDL issuances

Federal government looking into illegal CDL's in MN

The federal government is cracking down on illegal commercial driver's licenses in Minnesota. FOX 9's Karen Scullin has the latest.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota is facing pressure from the Trump administration to address the issue of illegally issued commercial driver's licenses to foreign nationals.

Minnesota under scrutiny for illegal CDLs

What we know:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has highlighted that Minnesota issued one-third of its CDLs to foreign nationals illegally. Examples include licenses issued to individuals from El Salvador, Somalia, and Ukraine, whose work rights in the U.S. had expired.

What they're saying:

"Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota gave 33% of these licenses unlawfully. People that should never have a license driving a big rig on American roads endangering the American people, uh shameful," said Duffy.

Minnesota's response and action plan

What we know:

The Minnesota Department of Vehicle Services has acknowledged administrative errors in issuing CDLs and has paused issuing them to foreign nationals. They have begun an internal review and plan to submit an action plan.

The other side:

The U.S. Department of Transportation is also investigating Minnesota's CDL training centers for potentially falsifying training data and not meeting curriculum standards. FOX 9 reached out to several training facilities, but responses were limited, and some facilities claimed not to conduct CDL training.

What we don't know:

It remains unclear how many training centers are non-compliant, as some may not be actively teaching students.