Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday to Newsmax that states must "partner" with the Trump administration to combat commercial driver's license (CDL) fraud, warning that unqualified drivers are endangering Americans on the roads.
Speaking with "Wake Up America" during an on-location interview at a gas station in Hiram, Georgia, Duffy told reporter Carolyn Ryan, "We need our states to partner with us, which is really important. I can't do it myself."
"I don't have, like, an FBI force. I need the states to help me, which they are," he explained.
Duffy said the administration is "clamping down on the fake schools and the fake licenses" after "[former President] Joe Biden allowed in 12, 15, 20 million people into the country over that four years," claiming that "a lot of them have gone out and gotten commercial driver's licenses."
"So one, they went to a sham school. They got a sham license."
"They're not qualified. These are 80,000-pound big rigs, and they've hit the road," Duffy continued.
"And now, we see because they don't know how to drive, they're actually killing Americans on these roads."
He contrasted the current enforcement efforts with prior policies, arguing that while U.S. citizens undergo background checks before receiving a CDL, illegal aliens were not subject to the same scrutiny.
"Even if you get your driver's license in America, we'll do a background check."
"We'll look at — did you have a drunk driving [violation]? What kind of speeding record do you have?" added Duffy.
"Do you have a criminal conviction? We will look at that before we give you a license."
"If you came into this country illegally under Joe Biden, they weren't checking your background," he said.
"They won't go back to your home country [and check] did you have a violent criminal history? Do you have driving offenses?"
"They just give you a license," Duffy said. "We are tightening up these rules to make sure we have good drivers driving on American roads and keeping everyone safe."
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