WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has announced a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation to jointly investigate what officials describe as fraud and illegal practices at commercial driver’s license (CDL) schools, according to DHS.
According to DHS, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will work with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) — the trucking safety arm of the Department of Transportation — along with state and local partners to identify and address CDL-related fraud. The department said the joint effort will focus on maintaining standards in CDL training, preventing fraud in the issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, and ensuring qualified individuals are operating commercial vehicles.
According to DHS, FMCSA has identified approximately 75 entry-level driving training schools suspected of fraudulent activities. The department said the suspected violations include improper driver certifications, falsified training records, and failure to properly train drivers applying for CDLs. HSI will now support DOT’s investigations of these schools, according to DHS.
Statements from officials
“Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole-of-government approach, to keep America’s roads safe.”
“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement. “We’ve knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry. DHS will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America’s roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families.”
Context and background
Commercial driver’s licenses are issued by state motor vehicle agencies, not federal agencies. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sets minimum training and testing standards for CDL issuance, but states have primary authority over the licensing process itself. The Trump administration has directed federal resources toward review of state-level CDL practices, and DOT and FMCSA have taken several actions over the past year targeting what officials describe as unqualified drivers, licensing irregularities, and training school fraud.
The specific numbers cited by Secretary Duffy — 24,000 drivers removed from the road, 28,000 licenses canceled, and 9,500 training schools purged from the FMCSA registry — reflect DOT and FMCSA data. The department did not include the time period covered by these figures in the release.
What this means for Texas
Texas is one of the largest CDL-issuing states in the country and is a major hub for interstate and international trucking, including cross-border freight moving through Laredo, El Paso, and other South Texas ports of entry. Any changes to federal CDL oversight — including additional investigations of Texas-based training schools — could affect both the trucking workforce and the freight moving through Texas ports.
The DHS release did not identify specific training schools under investigation or specify how many, if any, of the 75 flagged schools are located in Texas.
How to report suspected fraud
Anyone with information about suspected CDL fraud, unsafe commercial driving practices, or violations of federal motor carrier safety regulations can report it to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration through the National Consumer Complaint Database at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov, or by calling 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238). Anyone with information about immigration-related fraud in the trucking industry can also report tips to Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-347-2423.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
