A string of fatal crashes involving drivers who federal officials say were in the country illegally has prompted the Trump administration to escalate a nationwide crackdown on how states issue driver’s licenses and commercial licenses, with New York, California and Ohio at the center of the dispute.
On October 16, 21-year-old Ryan O’Shea, captain of the University of New Haven hockey team and a criminal justice student, was killed when a pickup truck traveling the wrong way on Connecticut’s Interstate 91 struck his car head-on. Police identified the other driver as Guillermo Carmona-Lopez, a Mexican national whom the Department of Homeland Security says had already been removed from the United States twice before the crash. Carmona-Lopez did not hold a commercial driver’s license.
O’Shea’s death is one of several cases cited by critics of state licensing practices. In July, Uzbek national Bekhzod Asrarov, who had entered the U.S. legally and held an Ohio commercial driver’s license, allegedly killed 21-year-old college soccer player Tobias “Toby” Forsythe when his tractor-trailer collided with Forsythe’s car. Reports say Asrarov could not communicate with police without a translation app, failed an English-proficiency test and allegedly tried to conceal electronic driving logs.
On September 2, Indian national Manjit Singh, whom DHS identified as in the country illegally and who held a California commercial driver’s license, was involved in a separate fatal Ohio crash that killed 50-year-old Brenda Watson. Singh has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. Ohio has since moved to tighten licensing rules in response to these cases.
Federal Audit Finds Widespread Licensing Failures
In September 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced emergency restrictions on commercial driver’s licenses issued to foreign nationals after a nationwide audit found widespread fraud. According to the audit, more than half of commercial trucking licenses issued in New York went to drivers in the country illegally, some of whom then drove across state lines. Investigators also found that a Chinese national accused of causing a fatal highway pileup in Tennessee had been issued a New York State driver’s license unlawfully.
In California, the audit found that 25% of commercial driver’s licenses were issued unlawfully. California has stated it will not enforce federal English-proficiency requirements for drivers.
The Department of Transportation withheld $73 million in funding from New York State over its refusal to comply with federal licensing standards; New York is suing over the withheld funds. The administration has also launched “Joint Task Force Crossroads of America,” a nationwide effort targeting fraud and criminal activity tied to commercial driver’s licenses. The task force began with more than 1,000 leads and has inspected more than 200 driving schools across 23 states, opening multiple criminal investigations.
Court Ruling Opens New Legal Avenue
On November 6, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered New York City to comply with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoena seeking information about migrants with serious criminal histories housed at a Bronx shelter. Writing in a Fox News opinion column, retired NYPD inspector Paul Mauro argued the ruling could pave the way for similar federal subpoenas targeting New York DMV records to identify people in the country illegally who have obtained driver’s licenses.
Mauro also noted that at least 17 states and Washington, D.C., allow people in the country illegally to obtain driver’s licenses or driving-privilege cards while operating automatic voter-registration systems tied to license applications, a point he raised as a reason for expanding federal scrutiny beyond commercial licenses to standard driver’s licenses as well.
As of now, the federal task force’s publicly stated focus remains on commercial driver’s licenses, though the Carmona-Lopez case — in which the driver held no commercial license at all — has been cited by critics as evidence that the enforcement effort may need to widen.
