Grassroots support Duffy's crackdown on truckers with illegal CDLs

Three Texas grassroots organizations applaud Secretary Duffy's emergency action on commercial driver licensing

Call for stronger federal oversight of autonomous 18-wheelers due to national security concerns

(AUSTIN, TEXAS — October 6, 2025) — Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom(TURF), Texans for Toll-free Highways (TTH), and Grassroots America - We the People (GAWTP) are committed to protecting the safety and sovereignty of Texas roads and highways and announce their strong support of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s emergency actions announced Friday, September 26, 2025. The new rule targeting the abuse of non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) is a bold and necessary move that prioritizes the lives and safety of American citizens.

The Department of Transportation’s decision to crack down on dangerously lax licensing procedures is long overdue. The groups share Duffy’s outrage over the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) review of state issuances of both CDLs and commercial learner’s permits (CLP) that found substantial non-compliance of drivers who live in a state or country with different standards than the state where they are licensed. 

Texas is one of six states in systematic non-compliance for issuing non-domiciled CDLs along with California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Washington. 

“American families should not have to worry about unqualified or unlawfully-present individuals operating 85,000-pound trucks on public roads. Texans are fed-up with policies that put political correctness over basic public safety,” noted TURF Founder and Executive Director Terri Hall. 

“We applaud Secretary Duffy and the Trump administration for taking decisive action and demanding accountability from rogue states. Dangerous drivers with expired visas or no legal status should never have been licensed to begin with. This rule is a victory for safety, common sense, and the rule of law,” remarked JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director of Grassroots America.

History of opposing dangerous trucking policies

TURF has been a vocal opponent of the cross-border trucking program since its implementation under NAFTA. Under both Democrat and Republican administrations, TURF strongly pushed back against policies that allowed unsafe or inadequately vetted foreign drivers to operate in the U.S. Despite years of advocacy, federal inaction persisted—until now.

“We have been sounding the alarm for decades,” Hall added. “We are pleased to finally see the Trump administration do something about it. This emergency rule is a long-overdue step in the right direction.”

Texas Must Lead by Example

While Texas has long been a leader in transportation, these grassroots groups believe this revelation should be a wake-up call. 

“There is no room for error when it comes to public safety on our highways,” Hall continued. “Texas must show it is part of the solution—not part of the problem. We’re relieved DPS announced last week that it will no longer be issuing CDLs to non-citizens, we will be closely monitoring the situation in Texas until we are confident that all trucking companies are following the law and that unsafe licenses are revoked.”

Groups urge federal action on AV trucks

In addition to supporting this critical regulatory reform, the groups also call on the federal government to take immediate and bold action regarding the proliferation of Level 4 and Level 5 Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) (primarily commercial trucks) — vehicles operating with no human driver onboard.

TURF has warned that fully driverless commercial trucks represent a grave national security threat, as well as a ticking time bomb for public safety:

• A completely driverless 18-wheeler could be weaponized with ease.
• Hacking by hostile actors (or nations) or technological malfunctionscould be weaponized and used to crash into buildings, critical infrastructure, cause catastrophic multi-vehicle pile-ups, or block major roadways.
• These vehicles remove human judgment from high-speed, high-stakes traffic environments.
• The public has had no voice or consent in allowing these machines on our roads.

“We are deeply concerned that while we work to close dangerous loopholes around foreign CDL holders, Big Tech is quietly replacing them with driverless trucks that are just as, if not more, dangerous,” added Hall. “If a human driver can cause a fatal crash due to negligence, what happens when there’s no driver and the system fails or gets hacked? We’ve seen the headlines — it’s not a matter of if, but when” (emphasis ours).

The groups urge President Trump to press Congress to take immediate legislative action to protect all Americans from the dangers of commercial AVs, and also call on the U.S. Department of Transportation to:

• Place an immediate moratorium on the operation of fully autonomous commercial vehicles (Levels 4 and 5).
• Conduct a national security assessment on the potential weaponization of autonomous trucks.
• Require public hearings and state-level input before these technologies are authorized for widespread use.
• Demand strict cybersecurity standards for any AI-operated vehicle used in interstate commerce.
• Require a human driver to be present in every AV.