Washington, D.C. (November 6, 2025) – This week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ Parsing Immigration Policy podcast features Jennie Taer, reporter for The Daily Wire, discussing how illegal immigrants are obtaining non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) – leading to tragic consequences on America’s roads.
Highlights:
- Fatal consequences: A string of deadly crashes involving illegal immigrant has drawn attention to the risks posed by non-domiciled CDLs.
- Licensing loophole: Non-domiciled CDLs, created in 2019 for legitimate cross-state work, have been exploited by illegal immigrants and created a cheap labor alternative for trucking companies facing labor shortages.
- Work permit abuse: The Biden administration’s mass issuance of work permits to asylum applicants – without legal authorization to be here – allows states like California to grant CDLs to ineligible drivers.
- Lack of enforcement: Many illegal-alien truck drivers arrested did not speak English – despite a federal law requiring road testing be done in English to obtain a CDL.
- Private school loophole: Private schools in California have been certifying unqualified drivers, with limited state oversight.
- Legal showdown: Florida is suing California over its licensing practices after an illegal immigrant truck driver killed three residents.
- Federal response: The Trump has ordered California to reform its licensing policies within 30 days or risk losing $160 million in federal highway funds.
- ICE enforcement: Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased roadside checks and weigh-station operations, with several states cooperating to curb illegal driving activity.
- Broader implications: When states hand out CDLs to illegal immigrants, every state becomes a border state.
In this week’s commentary, Mark Krikorian notes that today marks the anniversary of President Reagan signing the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which granted amnesty to nearly three million illegal immigrants and made it unlawful to employ them. Billed as a “grand bargain,” it promised enforcement in exchange for legalization – but that promise was never kept, poisoning immigration politics to this day. The enduring lesson, as Mark Krikorian notes, is : real enforcement and system integrity must come before any talk of amnesty.
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