Problems with commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants found in 8 states so far

The federal government’s crackdown on commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants has found problems in eight states so far in the wake of several deadly crashes.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has publicly threatened to withhold millions in federal money from California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and now New York after investigations found problems such as licenses that remained valid long after an immigrant’s legal status expired. But the department quietly also sent letters detailing similar concerns to Texas, South Dakota, Colorado and Washington during the government shutdown after briefly mentioning those states in September.

Concerns about immigrant truck drivers gained attention after a tractor-trailer driver who was not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused an August crash in Florida that killed three people. A fiery California crash that also killed three people in October and involved a truck driver in the country illegally added to the worries.

Duffy proposed new restrictions in September that would severely limit which noncitizens could get a license to drive a...