Foreign CDL Holder Couldn’t Find Semi-Truck Lights While Driving at Night
Incident justifies Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s crackdown on states’ CDL standards
“I don’t know where the lights at.”
That’s what a semi-truck driver with a foreign accent told a man who approached her vehicle in the dark in a video that went viral in February.
“How long you had your CDL?” the man asked, referring to her commercial driver’s license.
“For two months now,” she responded.
“You can’t be driving in the dark, though,” he said. “That’s crazy. I’m not trying to be rude or nothing, but you’re going to cause an accident.”
Shockingly, the driver produced a CDL after the stranger expressed skepticism that she had one.
No one should possess a basic driver’s license without knowing how to turn on a vehicle’s lights. That a CDL holder was driving a semi-truck at night without that knowledge exposed a systemic problem with our licensing systems.
Non-domiciled truck driver doesn't even know how to turn on her TRAILER LIGHTS?!
— American Truckers 🚛🦅 (@atutruckers) February 7, 2026
A concerned citizen had to pull her over and basically beg her to STOP DRIVING because she couldn't figure out basic equipment.
This is who's sharing the road with our families??… pic.twitter.com/A5SyjmDmAJ
This is not an isolated fluke. Unskilled foreign drivers with CDLs have become a common occurrence—one that is frequently costing Americans their lives.
As Restoration News has covered, audits repeatedly show many states have issued non-domiciled CDLs to temporary residents without proper verification of lawful presence, driving history, or basic competency. These licenses allow holders to operate commercial vehicles, such as semi-trucks, anywhere in the country.
Last year, California showed a 25 percent compliance failure rate, Texas 49 percent, and New York 53 percent. These failures included: issuing long-term licenses without tying them to immigration expiration dates, accepting outdated documents, and failing to confirm current lawful status. This allowed thousands of potentially unqualified drivers onto the roads.
Additionally, just last month, a federal audit found 20 percent of non-domiciled CDLs in Illinois are illegally issued.
The problem gained national attention last year through a series of deadly crashes linked to these non-domiciled drivers, most of whom were illegal aliens. According to the Department of Transportation, in 2025 alone, holders of these licenses caused at least 17 fatal incidents resulting in 30 deaths. These are deaths that could have been prevented with proper scrutiny.
As it became obvious that states could not be trusted to properly vet non-domiciled foreign drivers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) took decisive action last September. The agency issued an interim rule ("Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled Commercial Drivers Licenses") to drastically limit the number of CDLs issued to non-immigrant foreigners, such as guest workers.
The rule limited nationwide eligibility for non-domiciled CDLs to holders of the following visas: H-2A (temporary agricultural workers), H-2B (temporary non-agricultural workers), and E-2 (investors). It also eliminated reliance on Employment Authorization Documents alone as sufficient proof of eligibility, mandating the review of foreign driving records and stronger verification of lawful presence, such as an unexpired passport.
A federal court issued a stay on the rule last November. However, on Feb. 13, the FMCSA finalized the rule with minor alterations. It takes effect on March 16.
Existing valid non-domiciled CDLs remain usable until their expiration. But new issuances, renewals, transfers, and upgrades are restricted to the same visa categories specified in the interim rule. States must comply or face corrective actions, including potential loss of federal funding. This tactic proved effective in New York, where CDL issuances have been halted for all non-domiciled foreigners.
For too long, states have relaxed their verification standards of non-domiciled CDL holders. This has allowed unqualified individuals—many of whom lack basic driving skills, English language proficiency, or verifiable experience—to operate vehicles capable of wiping out entire families in a split second.
The woman in the roadside incident embodies the very dangers Duffy’s reforms aim to prevent. American drivers should not encounter foreign semi-truck drivers with freshly printed CDLs fumbling in the dark for the light switch.
FMCSA's final rule is a long-overdue safeguard that ensures only those who meet American trucking standards are allowed to operate semi-trucks.
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