HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is defending his administration after backlash over the arrest of an Uzbek national with suspected terror ties who was captured while holding a valid Pennsylvania commercial driver's license.

The driver, Akhror Bozorov, was arrested by ICE in Kansas while operating a big rig and carrying a Pennsylvania CDL listing a Somerton, Philadelphia address. DHS officials said Bozorov was wanted in Uzbekistan for alleged ties to terrorist organizations.

According to Shapiro, Bozorov remained fully approved in the federal SAVE database, the system PennDOT uses to verify the legal status of noncitizen CDL applicants. The governor said the state followed federal procedure and had no authority to deny a license when the DHS-managed database showed he was “lawfully present.”

In a letter to House and Senate leaders — signed by PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll and Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt — officials rejected claims that Pennsylvania licenses undocumented immigrants or that Bozorov could have registered to vote.

“All non-citizens must provide proof of identity and must have their legal presence verified through the federal SAVE database,” the letter said. “PennDOT followed the established federal process.”

Shapiro emphasized Wednesday that PennDOT rechecked the same federal database after Bozorov’s arrest.
“He’s still qualified to get a CDL,” Shapiro said. “DHS was clearly not minding the shop. Every state in the country relies on this database. We relied on the feds before issuing this one.”

DHS officials pushed back, arguing that federal work authorization “does not confer legal status” and blamed data gaps on older policies. A DHS spokesperson added:
“Just because the Biden administration granted Bozorov work authorization — and Gov. Shapiro allowed him to get a CDL — does NOT mean he should be on America’s roads operating an 18-wheeler.”

Bozorov, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and was later ordered removed by an immigration judge, is now in ICE custody and undergoing deportation proceedings.

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