Nearly 700 truck-driver licenses wrongly given to noncitizens in Washington, feds erupt

Washington state faces federal scrutiny after its Department of Licensing (DOL) admitted it mistakenly issued nearly 700 commercial driver’s licenses to noncitizens who were not eligible. The department says it was done in error.

According to reporting from the Washington State Standard, the errors stretch back seven years and only surfaced after a high-profile Florida crash that killed three people. The crash involved Harjinder Singh, who Florida officials say made an illegal U-turn while driving a semitruck. Singh later became the subject of a DOL review, which concluded he had improperly been issued a standard CDL in Washington instead of the nondomiciled credential required for noncitizens with temporary work authorization, as originally reported by The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM. Standard licenses are reserved for citizens and lawful permanent residents.

Singh’s case was the catalyst for a deeper audit. That review uncovered 685 additional commercial licenses that had been wrongly granted. All were active when discovered, though the state says the total may be higher once expired credentials are factored in.

Feds react to shocking incompetence from Washington office

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation told the Standard that Washington’s lapse amounted to “a blatant breakdown in its responsibility to protect the public,” arguing the state effectively placed “unsafe foreign drivers onto highways across America.”

The political backlash has accelerated under Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has threatened to withhold federal highway dollars from states issuing credentials to ineligible immigrants. Duffy also rolled out new visa restrictions for CDL eligibility, a policy now tied up in federal court. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal regulators to keep truckers without English proficiency off U.S. roads.

Washington officials insist they’ve begun corrective action. DOL spokesperson Nathan Olson told the Standard the “errors have been addressed” and that the agency is overhauling its processes, training, and internal systems. The state has paused all nondomiciled CDL and learner-permit processing while it reviews each affected driver. Some may retain their credentials if they have since obtained lawful permanent residency.

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