RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles says it is reviewing all commercial driver’s licenses issued to people who are not U.S. citizens to ensure the licenses conform with federal rules.

The review comes a month after the Trump administration threatened to withhold nearly $49 million in transportation money from the state after determining that the DMV had improperly issued what are known as “nondomiciled” CDLs.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it examined 50 of the approximately 924 active nondomiciled CDLs in North Carolina last August and found that 27 of them had been granted illegally. The most common violation by the state was to issue a commercial license that would not expire until after the driver was legally allowed to remain in the country.

In a response submitted Feb. 6, the DMV told federal officials it stopped issuing nondomiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits on Jan. 9 and wouldn’t resume until the federal agency granted permission. The DMV also said it had begun reviewing all commercial licenses and permits held by non-citizens to determine if any violated federal rules.

“For any records that are determined to be noncompliant, NCDMV will issue a notice of cancellation, informing the individual that their credential will be cancelled in 20 days,” the DMV wrote.

The DMV estimates its review will take four to five months.

As for the 27 licenses flagged by the federal audit, the DMV says it has notified 24 of the drivers that their licenses are being canceled. One license had previously been canceled, the DMV said, and another driver has left the state. The final license was reissued in late December following federal guidelines.

The U.S. Department of Transportation says it has received North Carolina’s response and is reviewing it.

“Each state is expected to revoke illegally issued licenses and correct the systemic failures that allowed these unqualified truckers to obtain a non-domiciled CDL in the first place,” the agency said in a statement. “Compliance is not optional.”

The DMV says it found what went wrong

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the results of the federal audit of North Carolina licenses on Jan. 8. Duffy’s press release threatening to withhold transportation money coincided with a letter to Gov. Josh Stein and DMV commissioner Paul Tine.

“North Carolina’s failure to follow the rules isn’t just shameful — it’s dangerous,” Duffy said in the release. “I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system.”

The DMV said it learned about “some of its deficiencies” during the federal audit last summer and began looking into what it was doing wrong.

It learned, for example, that DMV policies did not clearly explain that nondomiciled commercial licenses and permits should not be valid beyond the length of time the driver is permitted to be in the country. Examiners weren’t properly trained, and when they made mistakes, “antiquated systems” and back-office reviews didn’t catch them.

The DMV says it updated its policies, practices and training in December to ensure new nondomicile CDLs meet federal standards.

Nondomicile licenses account for a tiny fraction of the 325,000 active commercial driver’s licenses in North Carolina, according to the DMV.

Nationwide review in the name of safety and integrity

The North Carolina audit was part of a nationwide review by USDOT of how states issue nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses to immigrant drivers. Duffy said the lax immigration policies of the Biden administration had allowed millions of people into the country illegally and suggested many had obtained CDLs.

Duffy says the aim is to protect “the safety of families on the road” and uphold the integrity of CDLs held by America’s truckers. Critics of the USDOT policy say the government has failed to show that nondomiciled CDL drivers are any more dangerous than others.

Still, the trucking industry takes the federal guidelines seriously, according to Ben Greenberg, president and CEO of the N.C. Trucking Association.

The day after Duffy’s announcement, the association urged its members to assess whether they employ nondomiciled drivers and to review and monitor the status of their licenses and determine whether they meet federal standards.

“Because commercial drivers operate across state lines, consistency in licensing standards is critical,” the association said in a statement. “We urge NCDMV to continue its efforts to uphold these standards so that only qualified, properly licensed drivers are on the road in North Carolina and beyond.”

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