A probe in Texas has revealed that illegal immigrants are registering vehicles, even though state law prohibits them from having a driver’s license.
Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison is digging into the loophole and pressing state officials to “take immediate action to stop the issuance of vehicle registrations to illegal immigrants.”
The revelation comes amid recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations targeting the state’s highways. ICE made over 120 arrests of illegal immigrants who were found without insurance and licenses in Houston, Texas.
The near-daily headlines of illegal aliens driving 18-wheelers or causing fatal DUI hit-and-runs highlight a larger problem across the country. There are numerous federal-state coordination challenges when it comes to cracking down on illegal immigrants on America’s roadways.
For starters, 19 states in the United States—many of them sanctuary states—issue licenses without requiring evidence of legal status.
Texas is not among them, but Harrison cited Texas law that gives the state “broad authority by the Legislature to determine what personal identification must be presented in order to register a vehicle.”
There have been many reports nationwide of illegal immigrants using fake Social Security numbers and other phony documents to obtain employment, so it prompts the question: Could they be doing it to obtain driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations?
According to Harrison, Texas law grants the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles broad authority on identification requirements without mandatory citizenship checks.
In addition, vehicles are registered in Texas through County Tax Assessor-Collector offices, online renewal or by mail. The state has a list of acceptable identification documents when registering a vehicle, meaning it doesn’t require a valid driver’s license.
Texas accepts “a driver’s license or state identification certificate issued by a state or territory of the United States” and several other forms of identification.
With 254 counties in Texas and some counties with several tax office locations, it seems ripe for abuse, prompting another obvious question: Are county’s Tax Assessor-Collector employees qualified to renew documents for vehicle registrations?
In a Nov. 3 letter to the DMV Board Chair, Harrison said his officed had received “alarming reports of illegal immigrants being able to register their vehicles in the State of Texas.”
“To my shock, upon investigation, my office has verified that these reports are in fact real,” he wrote in a letter shared on his own X account and across social media.
“The Texas government should be a force multiplier of President Trump’s efforts to combat illegal immigration, not enabling or incentivizing it,” Harrison also shared on his Facebook page. “It is past time the Texas government starts acting like we are in a battle for the future of western civilization, because we are. I’m demanding action now!”
The Daily Wire first reported on Harrison’s letter and the vehicle registration discrepancies, with Immigration Reporter Jennie Taer adding on X: “Illegal immigrants are obtaining vehicle registrations in the State of Texas without driver’s licenses.”
SCOOP: Illegal immigrants are obtaining vehicle registrations in the State of Texas without driver's licenses.
State Rep. @brianeharrison “recently received alarming reports of illegal immigrants being able to register their vehicles" and his office is now probing state… pic.twitter.com/OdnZM6JsqP
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) November 3, 2025
In the letter, Harrison said he wants to know how the DMV determines, through documentation, personal identification and other verification, whether the owner of the vehicle is a citizen or lawfully in the country before issuing vehicle registrations.
Harrison further told the DMV that if it “fails to take prompt and efficacious action to solve this problem, I will file legislation to require DMV verify lawful status before issuing registrations.”
As part of ongoing immigration enforcement efforts, ICE Houston arrested over 1,500 criminal aliens, gang members, foreign fugitives and immigration offenders during a 10-day operation from Oct. 22-31, the agency announced in a news release.
Part of that effort targeted illegal aliens who are also breaking the law by not having the proper paperwork — a valid driver’s license, registration and insurance — to be on the road in the first place.
“We made over 120 arrests in Houston Oct. 29 — clearing our roads of dangerous, often unlicensed and uninsured, illegal aliens who should NOT be behind the wheel,” ICE shared on X.
🧊ICE on the roads🧊
We made over 120 arrests in Houston Oct. 29 — clearing our roads of dangerous, often unlicensed and uninsured, illegal aliens who should NOT be behind the wheel. pic.twitter.com/qg4EcN9Fnr
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) November 3, 2025
In a separate post, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote, “WE’RE COMING FOR YOU if you are an illegal alien driving on America’s highways. Under @Sec_Noem’s leadership, ICE is partnering with state and local law enforcement to assist federal immigration officers in our effort to make America SAFE again. We’re working with state and local law enforcement under 287(g) agreements to CRACK DOWN and remove these public safety threats from American roads.”
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. These states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington—issue a license if an applicant provides certain documentation, such as a foreign birth certificate, foreign passport, or consular card and evidence of current residency in the state, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In addition, many of those same states allow illegal immigrants to obtain non-domicile commercial driver’s licenses. The U.S. Department of Transportation recently issued emergency rules to tighten the requirements for CDLs after a series of fatal crashes on American highways.
Many of those semi-truck drivers had California-issued CDLs. In several recent cases and viral videos, the drivers failed an English language proficiency test as well as a test identifying highway traffic signs.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently limited the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to foreigners, only if they possess either an H-2B, H-2A or E-2 visa.
The new rules also include requiring English proficiency and launching an audit of states handing out non-domiciled CDLs. The worst offender is California, where more than 25% of non-domiciled CDLs reviewed by the feds were improperly issued, according to the Department of Transportation.
Trucking industry experts told The Daily Wire in a previous report that while federal law requires that the road testing needed to obtain a CDL has to be done in English, the regulation is often not enforced. The written portion of the testing is offered in many languages in some states.
“Until Trump said we’re gonna enforce it … no one was taking that seriously, there was no enforcement there, there was no audit there,” John Esparza, president and CEO of the Texas Trucking Association, told The Daily Wire.
ICE has taken its enforcement operations to America’s interstates to arrest illegal immigrant truck drivers with improper CDLs or who can’t speak English or read road signs.
In addition, recent state policies in Texas have halted the issuance of CDLs to certain legal noncitizens, refugees, people with asylum and DACA recipients, The Texas Tribune reported.
