It's the Democrat way: "which found that 1-in-5 licenses issued by Giannoulias’ office were done so illegally"

Illinois official got more than $300K from trucking industry while his agency gave illegal licenses

https://justthenews.com/government/local/illinois-official-got-300k-donations-trucking-industry-while-agency-issued-illegal?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletterThe Chicago Way: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat who is reportedly considering a run for Chicago mayor, is facing scrutiny over his role in improperly issuing CDL licenses after a series of high profile big rig crashes across the country.

The Illinois official whose agency issued potentially thousands of illegal licenses to truckers, received more than $300,000 in donations from the trucking industry in recent years. The Illinois Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, is in a standoff with the Trump Transportation Department over its review of the state’s commercial drivers licenses (CDLs) which found that 1-in-5 licenses issued by Giannoulias’ office were done so illegally. 

Giannoulias, a Democrat who is reportedly considering a run for Chicago mayor, is facing scrutiny over his office’s role in issuing those licenses from the Trump administration after a series of high profile big rig crashes across the country that exposed issues in how states issue non-domiciled CDLs to foreign citizens, or in some cases, to illegal immigrants. 

In Illinois, the U.S. Transportation Department found the Secretary of State’s Office, through the Director of Driver Services, issued illegal CDLs, in some cases, to individuals who have failed to provide evidence of lawful presence, let alone proficiency in managing big rigs.

Big Rig danger

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says that trucks often weigh 20–30 times as much as passenger cars and are taller with greater ground clearance, which can result in smaller vehicles underriding trucks in crashes.

Truck braking capability can be a factor in truck crashes. Loaded tractor-trailers require 20-40% more distance than cars to stop, and the discrepancy is greater on wet and slippery roads or with poorly maintained brakes. Truck driver fatigue is also a known crash risk. Drivers of large trucks are allowed by federal hours-of-service regulations to drive up to 11 hours at a stretch. Surveys indicate that many drivers violate the regulations and work longer than permitted.

In response to the audit, the Transportation Department threatened to yank federal highway funding from Illinois if it does not pause issuing non-domiciled CDLs, identify all issued licenses that do not comply with the law, and conduct an internal audit of how it awards such licenses.

Giannoulias has positioned himself as a defender of the state’s trucking and logistics industries, arguing the federal demands are damaging the state’s economy, its truckers, farmers, and others involved in the logistics sector.   

“A strong economy depends on strong logistics,” he said in a statement shared with Just the News earlier this week. “If trucks don’t move, supply chains fail, prices rise, and families feel it in their pocketbooks. We can see the actions by the Trump administration taking their toll on our truckers and our farmers, both of whom are essential to Illinois’ economy.” 

His office also insists that the Illinois Secretary of State has followed all federal guidelines on CDL licenses and suspended issuing them last fall in response to the new rules from the Trump administration, Just the News previously reported.  

More than $300,000 in donations from an industry he regulates

Giannoulias has also received more than $300,000 in donations from those associated with the trucking and logistics industries in the state from 2021 to 2025, according to state campaign finance records reviewed by Just the News. 

Just the News identified donors in this time period that are associated with transportation companies, semi-truck vendors, and truck driving schools and compiled their donations. The donations may raise additional questions for the Secretary of State in light of his agency’s failure to halt issuing CDLs to illegal, non-domiciled persons during those same years, as the Transportation Department found. 

The secretary’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News about the donations. 

The evidence was uncovered as part of the Transportation Department’s nationwide audit targeting states that issue “non-domiciled CDLs” after a spate of semi-truck crashes across the United States involving illegal immigrant drivers that were issued CDLs by Democrat-run states. Many of these accidents left victims dead. The U.S. Transportation Department reported that last year there were at least 3,996 fatal crashes involving large trucks.

The Illinois audit is the latest in a series of audits that have exposed systemic non-compliance with federal CDL rules, including in California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Colorado.

Deadly consequences

The issue came home to Illinois last October, when an illegal immigrant, Borko Stankovic, who was driving under a suspended Illinois CDL previously issued to a family member, swerved into opposing traffic at high speed and slammed into a Subaru sedan, killing the driver.

Though the license was expired in his case and not even being used by the correct individual, the incident was part of a growing pattern of accidents across the United States involving illegal immigrants granted or using expired CDL's, prompting the Transportation Department’s review. 

In Texas in March 2025, Solomun Weldekeal Araya reportedly caused a 17-car pileup on I-35 in Austin. The accident resulted in five fatalities. He was later charged with multiple counts of manslaughter and aggravated assault. The driver was reportedly detained by police after witnesses told law enforcement they saw him trying to leave. Officers reported Araya reportedly mainly spoke Tigrinya, a language spoken in the Horn of Africa, and does not speak English. Araya failed a field sobriety test and law enforcement believed he was under the influence of a drug or controlled substance. A drug test later found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the crash.

In August, an illegal immigrant driver made an illegal u-turn on the Florida Turnpike in his 18-wheeler truck, causing a crash that left three dead, the Homeland Security Department said. The immigrant was identified as Harjinder Singh, an illegal alien from India.

Before the fatal crash in Florida, Singh reportedly failed his CDL driver’s test 10 times, before finally being granted a license in 2023 in Washington State, according to Fox News. Instructors also noted a lack of English proficiency, with video evidence showing Singh struggled to speak English with police in the wake of the crash. 

The Transportation Department’s audits in other states also uncovered what it says is “systemic non-compliance in issuing non-domiciled CDLs.” In California, the department’s audit found that “more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed were improperly issued.” In New York State, it found that more than half of non-domiciled CDLs were issued in violation of federal law. In Colorado, the fraction was 22%. 

These findings led the administration to pull federal funding until the states remedy the license issuing process to prevent such failures. Secretary Duffy’s agency issued a final rule last week that would prevent foreign drivers from receiving a non-domicile CDL without undergoing a consular and interagency screening.