Terrorism suspect got commercial truck license in Pennsylvania
Bozorov is a wanted terrorist in Uzbekistan
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A suspected terrorist arrested in Kansas earlier this month is a licensed truck driver in Pennsylvania, according to federal authorities.
Akhror Bozorov fled his native Uzbekistan after law enforcement there issued an arrest warrant in late 2022. The 31-year-old, not an American citizen, is accused of recruiting on behalf of an unnamed jihadist terrorist group and distributing its propaganda online.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Bozorov crossed the southern border in February 2023, where he was apprehended, released and given work authorization before receiving a commercial truck driver's license in Pennsylvania in July.
In a statement issued Monday, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin skewered the former Biden administration for allowing "countless terrorists to come into our country."
"Not only was Akhror Bozorov -- a wanted terrorist -- released into the country by the Biden administration, but he was he was also given a commercial driver's license by Governor Shapiro's Pennsylvania," she said. "This should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should not be operating 18-wheelers on America's highways."
Alexis Campbell, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, told The Center Square that the agency reviews "the necessary immigration and naturalization documents" for non-citizen applicants, which confirms legal status "in real-time," using DHS's SAVE database.
"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," she said.
"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 state's Republican Party, however, wants answers. In a statement issued Tuesday, Chairman Greg Rothman demanded a "full and immediate investigation" into how
Bozorov was granted a CDL in the commonwealth.
"This is not just a policy failure, this is a national security breach right here in Pennsylvania," he said. "How in the world did someone with terrorist ties pass every check to get behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler in our state? And a Real ID at that? The people who signed off on this need to be found, fired, and Governor Shapiro must answer for this."