Hochul Silent as New York Issues Commercial Driver’s License to Migrant with No Name

New York’s driver’s license policies are once again under fire after it was revealed that the state issued a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to a migrant without requiring a first name. The controversy erupted after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt disclosed that one of the men swept up in a raid involving 125 illegal immigrants was carrying a New York CDL that listed “No Name Given” in place of his first and middle names.

“If New York wants to hand out CDLs to illegal immigrants with ‘No Name Given,’ that’s on them. The moment they cross into Oklahoma, they answer to our laws,” Stitt said Monday in a post on social media. The Republican governor shared a photograph of the license, which New York officials later confirmed was authentic.

Walter McLure, a spokesman for the New York Department of Motor Vehicles, admitted the CDL had been issued on April 14th with an expiration date in 2028. He insisted the process followed state protocols.

“This commercial driver’s license was issued in accordance with all proper procedures, including verification of the individual’s identity through federally issued documentation,” McLure said. He further claimed the recipient held “lawful status” through a federal work authorization and was eligible for a license under federal rules.

But McLure sidestepped key questions, including which program the individual was in, or what documents were actually used to confirm his identity. Instead, the DMV tried to deflect, saying, “It is not uncommon for individuals from other countries to have only one name.”

New York has refused to disclose how many other licenses might have been issued under similar circumstances. When pressed on how they could identify the person referenced in Stitt’s post, the DMV admitted, “We know who this person is based solely on the information in the picture of the tweet.”

Even more troubling, DMV officials refused to say whether New York is cooperating with Oklahoma authorities in their investigation. Stitt’s office noted that during the sweep, law enforcement “encountered numerous commercial truck drivers operating with licenses issued by sanctuary states, including one license listing ‘No Name Given.’” The governor’s office said 125 illegal immigrants were taken into custody, describing the situation as a direct threat to public safety. “These individuals posed a public safety risk by operating 80,000-pound commercial vehicles without proper verification.”

The man at the center of this incident has not been publicly identified and it remains unclear whether he is in custody or facing charges. What is clear is that New York’s policies once again leave serious questions about the state’s handling of migrant drivers and vehicle safety.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is positioning herself for a 2026 gubernatorial run, wasted no time criticizing Hochul. “At every opportunity, Kathy Hochul has turned her back on New Yorkers to bend the knee to the radical Far Left of the Democrat Party that puts illegals and criminals first and hardworking law-abiding New Yorkers last,” Stefanik said.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of ongoing litigation over New York’s so-called “green light law,” which allows non-citizens to obtain state driver’s licenses. Earlier this year, President Trump’s Department of Justice sued Hochul’s administration calling the measure a “frontal assault” on federal immigration enforcement. That case is still making its way through the courts.

The DMV’s own website states that commercial driver’s licenses cannot be obtained under the green light law. Yet this case demonstrates that federal employment authorization loopholes are being used to grant CDLs even when basic identifiers like a first name are absent.

Hochul, for her part, has refused to answer for the decision. Her office declined to comment and instead pointed reporters back to the DMV’s statement. The governor’s silence stands in stark contrast to her earlier political career. When she served as Erie County clerk and ran for Congress, Hochul took a very different position.

“I led the fight against giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses,” she once declared in a campaign ad.

That was then. Now, as governor, Hochul oversees a system where a commercial driver can legally take the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck in another state with a New York-issued license that literally identifies him as “No Name Given.”

Hochul Silent as New York Issues Commercial Driver’s License to Migrant with No Name