Digital strategist Brad Parscale set the tone with a blunt claim on X: “62,000 commercial driver’s licenses handed out to people here illegally.”
He added that a federal audit confirms it and called Governor Gavin Newsom’s response – “no problem” – a dismissal of a serious risk.
Parscale framed it as chaos, not compassion, arguing that putting unvetted heavy-truck operators on the road “puts millions of Americans at risk every single day.”
His post turned a technical audit into a viral alarm bell.
On Fox News, anchor John Roberts reacted the same way viewers likely did when he heard the figure.
“Did I hear you right, did you say 62,000?” he asked live, underscoring how stunning the number sounded in real time.
What the Fox News Report Found on the Ground
Senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse reported the headline finding plainly: a federal audit found California issued 62,000 CDLs to drivers who entered illegally and lack permanent legal status required by federal rules.
He said California’s sanctuary laws block DMV clerks from inquiring about immigration status, creating a blind spot the audit flagged.
La Jeunesse tied the audit to a deadly crash near Los Angeles. Police say Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national, was allegedly under the influence and “never touched his brakes” before a fiery chain collision that killed three people.
He broadened the pattern with examples. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol once arrested 125 illegal immigrants driving big rigs at a single checkpoint – 85% with CDLs they “never should’ve had,” he said.
La Jeunesse cited a Florida case in which an illegal immigrant with a California CDL killed three during an illegal U-turn, and a Texas case involving a Mandarin-only semi driver who killed a motorist.
He also referenced Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s viral post of a foreign driver going the wrong way on a freeway while a U.S. driver tried, in English, to coach him into turning on his hazard lights.
La Jeunesse kept circling back to the audit’s scale. 62,000 is not an anecdote; it’s a system output.
ICE’s Alarm: “A Deadly Weapon” on the Highway
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told John Roberts the problem is even scarier than it sounds.
He said some of those licenses were tied to Real ID, which would allow individuals “not supposed to be in the country” to board commercial aircraft and now haul hazardous goods.
Lyons put a sharper edge on the figure. While the audit number is 62,000, he warned of “63,000 illegal aliens” with CDLs on the road, saying the scale and spread go beyond California.
He pressed the accountability question. If California’s DMV cannot verify status, he argued, other states will feel the consequences because “every state is turning into a border state.”
Lyons previewed a response. He said Secretary Kristi Noem is coordinating with governors and that ICE is expanding 287(g) partnerships with state police and highway patrols to work weigh stations, identify violators, and make arrests.
When Roberts asked what ICE plans to do about Singh, Lyons said ICE issued a detainer and will take custody to avoid a sanctuary release that could let him disappear, re-license, and resurface elsewhere. He called the incidents “totally wrong” and “preventable.”
The Governor vs. Washington (As Reported On Air)
La Jeunesse said Governor Newsom has maintained “there is not a problem,” despite the federal audit’s findings. That political clash set up a stronger federal warning.
Roberts read a statement from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy:
Licenses to operate 80,000-pound trucks are being issued to “dangerous foreign drivers, oftentimes illegally,” posing a direct threat to families on the road.
Duffy threatened to pull millions in funding if California doesn’t “get its act together immediately.”
That is an unusual baseline for a federal-state standoff. The audit is the cudgel, and the funding is the leverage.
The Risk Isn’t Just on Paper
The most unsettling part of this story is the collision between paperwork rules and physics.
A rig weighs forty tons – there’s no cushion for administrative error when a driver can’t read a warning sign, misses a brake check, or doesn’t understand instructions in English shouted over blaring traffic.
The Fox report shows the risk in human terms. A U.S. driver in that viral clip is pleading, step by step, “turn your hazard lights on,” because seconds are the difference between an awkward correction and a multi-fatal crash.
This isn’t a debate about whether immigrants can drive trucks. It’s about verification: identity, status, training, language proficiency, and interstate safety for rigs with hazmat placards rolling past school buses and minivans.
Parscale’s post makes it easy to dunk on California, but Lyons’ point is the more important one: roads don’t have borders. A CDL granted in one jurisdiction becomes everyone’s risk once that driver is pulling a grade in Colorado or threading a downtown in Michigan.
If an audit shows the process shielded itself from basic questions, then the process needs to be fixed fast. Not to score political points, but because DOT crash reports are written in blood and fuel.
When a federal cabinet official says he will cut funding over a state’s licensing practice, that’s not a tweet for engagement – it’s a federal safety intervention. You don’t swing that hammer unless you think lives are on the line.
The Policy Crossroads
La Jeunesse’s report says California law prevents staff from asking about immigration status in licensing. That makes verification nearly impossible when the federal standard demands it.
Roberts’ read of Duffy’s statement raises the stakes. If funding is tied to compliance, the next chapter will be written not in press releases, but in DOT rulebooks, DMV directives, and grant agreements with very specific strings.
Lyons’ promise of more highway tasking under 287(g) suggests a parallel track. If the licensing spigot stays open, the enforcement net will stretch across weigh stations, ports, and interstates, looking for the same drivers the audit said should never have held a CDL.
Where This Story Goes Next
Parscale’s megaphone guarantees the politics will keep boiling. His post made the audit number impossible to ignore.
La Jeunesse’s reporting puts institutional pressure on Sacramento by continuing to surface crash investigations, court filings, and audit follow-ups. That relentless drip makes abstractions feel unavoidably personal.
Roberts will keep asking the obvious question – “how can this be?” – until someone answers it with policy rather than talking points. That’s what anchors do when a number doesn’t fit the common sense test.
Lyons’ promise of detainers, custody, and multi-state operations signals the federal posture: safety first, politics later. If he’s right that “every state is turning into a border state,” then every state will soon be part of the fix or part of the problem.
Per Brad Parscale, the federal audit says California issued 62,000 CDLs to people without legal status, while the governor waves it off.
Per William La Jeunesse, the audit’s number is real, and the consequences are already here – fatal crashes, wrong-way rigs, and CDLs that never should’ve cleared.
Per John Roberts, the scale is shocking enough to stop a broadcast. Per Todd Lyons, some licenses even link to Real ID, hazmat, and interstate travel, and ICE is moving to detain, coordinate, and remove where the law allows.
My read is simple. When a federal audit says the licensing gate is open, and you can see the wreckage on camera, you close the gate now and argue politics later.
UP NEXT: “Heavily Armed” — See Which States Are The Most Strapped
Image Credit: Survival World
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Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
