Republicans have launched attacks against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper, alleging that he mishandled the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles during his tenure as governor.
Cooper is running for the seat currently held by retiring U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican. In what is expected to be a pivotal race for control of the U.S. Senate, Cooper is squaring off against Republican Michael Whatley. The ballot also features Green Party candidate Michael Dublin and Libertarian Shannon Bray.
The Republican National Committee—previously led by Whatley prior to his Senate campaign—singled out Cooper in a Sept. 2 social media post.
“54% of North Carolina commercial driver’s licenses were issued illegally to foreign nationals,” stated RNC Research, which added, “More Americans are put in harm’s way every day because of Democrat Governor Roy Cooper.”
Is there any truth to the claim that over half of North Carolina’s commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) went unlawfully to foreign nationals?
Not at all. That statistic relies on a flawed interpretation of a very limited data sample. North Carolina DMV records show that only a tiny fraction of 1% of the state’s CDLs contained errors when issued to noncitizens, and crucially, none of those individuals lacked legal status in the U.S.
Origins of the RNC’s Statistic
Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation) audited CDLs issued across 25 states and flagged discrepancies within North Carolina’s database.
Federal reviewers examined a random batch of 50 CDLs given to noncitizens. Out of those 50, they determined that 27 files—accounting for 54% of that specific sample—did not strictly adhere to federal issuance guidelines.
Specifically, 19 of those instances involved the DMV issuing licenses that remained valid past the cardholder’s authorized period of U.S. residence. In the remaining eight cases, the agency failed to properly verify that the applicants possessed legal permission to reside in the country.
The U.S. Department of Transportation detailed these findings in a Jan. 8 letter to the state DMV, demanding corrective actions or the potential forfeiture of federal funds. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy publicly threatened to withhold $50 million from North Carolina if state officials failed to resolve the compliance issues.
“North Carolina’s failure to follow the rules isn’t just shameful — it’s dangerous,” Duffy remarked in an official statement, urging the state’s DMV leadership to overhaul their operations.
What the Complete State Records Reveal
In response, the North Carolina DMV conducted a comprehensive audit of every single license issued to noncitizens, according to agency spokesperson Marty Homan. Out of 325,114 active CDLs statewide, the review found that 8,540 (roughly 2.6%) belonged to noncitizens.
Within that subset, 1,149 licenses—representing about 0.35% of all state CDLs—contained administrative errors. However, Homan emphasized that zero licenses were granted to undocumented immigrants. Over 900 of these administrative errors simply stemmed from a mismatch between the license expiration date and the driver’s federal work authorization timeline.
Whenever the internal review flagged an improperly issued CDL, the DMV immediately downgraded the credential and sent a notification letter giving the driver 20 days to visit a local office and resolve the discrepancy, or face outright cancellation, Homan explained.
By July 21, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officially signed off on the state’s remediation strategy. Consequently, North Carolina’s federal transportation grants are no longer at risk, according to Homan.
In a July 21 correspondence, the federal oversight body stated it “acknowledges the actions the State has taken to address previously issued non-compliant licenses” and “appreciates North Carolina’s continued efforts to address the deficiencies identified.”
After being presented with the state’s audit findings, the RNC pivoted to praising the Trump administration for the outcome, stating via email that “Roy Cooper’s Democrat buddies caved to Republicans’ pressure and cleaned up their act.”
Our Conclusion
The RNC asserted that “54% of North Carolina commercial driver’s licenses were issued illegally to foreign nationals.”
This assertion is factually incorrect. A comprehensive audit of more than 325,000 CDLs revealed that only 1,149 (or 0.35%) contained paperwork errors regarding noncitizens, and none of those individuals were in the country unlawfully. The RNC took a localized sample failure rate and erroneously applied it across the entire driving population.
We rate the RNC’s claim False.