U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Monday announced a sweeping interagency campaign to combat fraud in the commercial trucking sector, including the formation of a new multi-state task force aimed at improving highway safety and border security.
The announcement, made in Detroit, brought together officials from the Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. They were joined by Marcus Coleman and his daughter Dalilah, who was critically injured in a 2024 crash involving an illegal alien driver.
Officials launched the Joint Task Force Crossroads of America, a partnership involving U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, along with state and local agencies, the FBI, DEA, HSI, ICE, and ATF. The task force will target criminal networks, fraudulent CDL practices, and related threats to reduce fatalities and deter illegal trucking activity.
Key actions include the emergency removal of more than 110 commercial driver’s license training schools linked to over 5,000 drivers who failed English language proficiency tests. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is also launching a nationwide audit of third-party CDL skills testers and reviewing state oversight. Investigations across 40 states identified more than 160 training providers for proposed removal; drivers certified by those providers were linked to 239 commercial vehicle fatalities.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted a synchronized sweep of more than 200 training schools across 23 states on Monday, serving notices of inspection. Ongoing probes target unauthorized employment, identity fraud, medical certification fraud, labor exploitation, and possible ties to drug trafficking and other crimes. ICE is advancing operations focused on CDL holders with removal orders or immigration violations.
In the past year and a half, USDOT has removed more than 28,000 drivers for English proficiency failures, forced states to cancel over 30,000 improperly issued licenses to foreign drivers, and purged more than 8,000 unqualified training schools from its registry.
Secretary Duffy said the effort builds on prior rule-strengthening measures and requires law enforcement support to fully address fraud. “From states failing to follow the law to shady training schools and illicit companies, together we will tackle every link in the chain,” he said.
Secretary Mullin highlighted risks from unqualified drivers who do not speak English, stating DHS and ICE are removing such threats from roadways. Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials emphasized accountability for those enabling unsafe practices and the need to protect American roads.
The campaign aligns regulatory authority with enforcement operations in what officials described as the Trump Administration’s most aggressive push to date against trucking fraud, waste, and abuse.
