Capitol Beat
GOP demands probe into how suspected terrorist got a Pennsylvania commercial license
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said a recently arrested Uzbek national had a commercial driver’s license from Pennsylvania.
Officials say 31-year-old Akhror Bozorov, who is wanted in Uzbekistan for reportedly belonging to a terrorist organization, had a Pennsylvania commercial driver’s license. U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Republican officials from across Pennsylvania are calling for an investigation into how an Uzbek national and suspected terrorist recently arrested by federal law enforcement was able to obtain a Pennsylvania commercial driver’s license.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced this week that they arrested 31-year-old Akhror Bozorov – who is wanted in Uzbekistan for reportedly belonging to a terrorist organization – in Kansas on Nov. 9.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a release that Bozorov was arrested in Kansas while working as a commercial truck driver. A photograph of his commercial driver’s license, released by the department, shows it was issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in July 2025.
According to the agency, Bozorov is accused of “distributing terrorist propaganda calling for jihad online and recruiting terrorists to join the jihad movement.” Uzbekistan authorities issued an arrest warrant for Bozorov in 2022.
In a letter sent this week to Attorney General Dave Sunday and Auditor General Timothy DeFoor, Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives asked Sunday to work with law enforcement “to ensure illegal aliens and/or alleged terrorists do not possess driver’s licenses of any kind, with or without a REAL ID indication.”
“We would also request you investigate whether any fraudulent action took place in this case that resulted in this person receiving a driver’s license,” they wrote to Sunday.
The Republican legislative leaders, including House Minority Leader Jesse Topper, Republican Whip Tim O’Neal, Minority Appropriations Committee Chair Jim Struzzi and others, also asked DeFoor to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Department of State to review safeguards in the commonwealth’s processes for obtaining driver’s licenses, as well as the state’s automatic voter registration system.
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican who is running for governor in 2026, also weighed in on the issue in a statement released through her campaign.
“The people of Pennsylvania need to know why a suspected terrorist was granted a CDL on Josh Shapiro’s watch,” Garrity said Tuesday. “This is a fundamental breach of our national security and a full accounting for this failure must be opened.”
“Governor Shapiro needs to fully investigate and answer for how the suspected terrorist was able to be granted a CDL, as well as review all licenses issued to ensure no other violent individuals slipped through the cracks of his Administration,” Garrity added.
Alexis Campbell, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, told City & State that the agency reviews required immigration and naturalization documents when applicants apply for a commercial license.
“Whenever non-citizen applicants apply for a CDL in Pennsylvania, PennDOT reviews the necessary immigration and naturalization documents and completes the federal process for verifying lawful presence, confirming the non-citizen’s legal status in real-time using the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database before issuing a license,” Campbell said in a statement. “If the applicant clears the federal SAVE process, which confirms the applicant is residing in the U.S. under legal status, and successfully meets all other criteria, a license is issued,” Campbell added. “PennDOT completes these two checks to confirm legal status with the federal government every time it issues a license to a non-citizen, and has followed this process without exception in 2025.”
The issuance of driver’s licenses to those without legal status has caused friction in other states as well.
In August, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lambasted the nation’s immigration system following a deadly accident in Florida on the state’s turnpike that left three people dead. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, the driver, Harjinger Singh, entered the country without documentation in 2018 and made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike prior to the crash.