Illinois Latest Haven for Illegal Immigrant Truckers As Number of Licenses Issued Is Jaw-Dropping – RedState
The ongoing revelations about the number of illegal immigrants driving 18-wheelers who are completely unqualified to do so continue to be more and more frightening. This is yet another consequence of the Biden administration’s four years of open border policies. While the Trump administration works to track down these unqualified drivers and remove them from the country, the same usual list of blue state suspects who facilitated this nightmare continues to crop up in federal investigations. Many of these drivers obtained licenses in places like New York and California. But there is another blue state that also hands out licenses like candy.
A source just told me that ICE goes to truck stops in sprinter vans and rounds up illegal drivers.
In one report, they collected over 30 in just 2 hours.
It’s politically safe: after all, angry liberal women aren’t upset about trucker arrests.
– Craig Fuller 🛩🚛🚂⚓️ (@FreightAlley) February 19, 2026
Illinois is the latest hot spot for issuing commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to nonresident immigrants. Nearly one in five CDLs issued in Lincoln Country went to non-residents, according to a new report from the Department of Transportation (DOT). A letter to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Driver Services Director Kevin Duesterhaus of the DOT says that of 150 licenses issued to nonresidents, 29 were issued illegally. In total, Illinois issued a whopping 10,088 unexpired Commercial Learner’s Permits (CLPs) and CDLs to non-domiciled applicants. The DOT report goes on to assert that the licenses issued were valid well after the applicants’ legal residency in the United States had expired, essentially allowing them to remain in the country and even use the licenses as a form of “valid” identification.
READ MORE: Duffy Drops Hammer on Hochul, Says New York Has 30 Days to Fix CDL Licenses for Illegals or Lose $73 Million
The DOT is playing hardball and giving Illinois 30 days to come into compliance and revoke the illegal licenses or risk losing about $128 million in federal highway funds. They also ordered the state to:
“immediately suspend the issuance of all new, renewed, transferred, amended, corrected, reprinted, or improved non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs until the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) provides written confirmation that the State’s corrective action plan has been accepted and implemented. »
After an illegal immigrant from Kyrgyzstan drove into oncoming traffic in Indiana, killing four people, Sen. Jim Banks set up a “truck safety line” to flag truckers who are not legally in the United States or who cannot meet English language requirements. https://t.co/jiQM4wGFC3
– Philippe Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) February 10, 2026
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also had enough and said:
“I need our state partners to understand that they are working for the American people, not illegal immigrants who broke the law by entering our country illegally and continue to break it by operating large trucks without the proper qualifications. Biden and Buttigieg have forced Americans to share their roads with unqualified and unvetted foreign drivers, but the Trump administration is putting the needs of American families first, where they belong.”
At RedState, we’ve covered the disturbing issue of illegal immigrants driving large trucks who don’t speak English and can’t read road signs well. My colleague Ward Clark recently reported that as many as 550 commercial driving schools, many in California, would be forced to close after inspectors found such things as unqualified instructors, who, in turn, failed to properly test students, as well as other safety issues.
ALSO READ: Nationwide CDL Scandal: More Than 550 Schools Fail to Meet Safety Standards and Risk Closure
Duffy is clearly done playing football on this issue with Pritzker and California Governor Gavin Newsom, both of whom have been mentioned as potential Democratic presidential candidates in 2028. In January, Duffy announced that $160 million in federal funding would be withheld from California for failing to revoke 17,000 illegal CDLs by the January 5 deadline.
JB Pritzker, in between lakeside walks to lose a few pounds and get in shape for his White House run, may want to take note of Newsom’s failure and what could happen to his state if he doesn’t clean up the mess caused by illegal truckers.
This can be fixed!
1. STOP ALL TRUCKS!
2. Search them for ILLEGAL ALIENS.
3. EXPORT THEM ALL!https://t.co/0cq2RYBniv– OldSarge USMC/USAR (@oldsarge2024) February 19, 2026
ICE and CBP continue to put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect American sovereignty and keep our streets safe.
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