The U.S. Department of Transportation said Tuesday that California, Washington and New Mexico could forfeit federal trucking-safety grants if they continue to issue or honor commercial driver’s licences for operators who cannot demonstrate basic English proficiency. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy gave the three Democrat-led states 30 days to comply with language-testing requirements or lose Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program funds—roughly $33 million for California, $10.5 million for Washington and $7 million for New Mexico, nearly $50 million combined each year. Duffy’s warning follows a USDOT investigation launched after an Aug. 12 crash near West Palm Beach, Fla., that killed three people. The driver, Harjinder Singh, was allegedly in the United States illegally and held CDLs from California and Washington despite failing an English assessment after the accident and having been pulled over in New Mexico a month earlier. The English-proficiency mandate, in force since 25 June under a Trump executive order, requires inspectors to remove from service any driver unable to read road signs or converse with law-enforcement officers. USDOT found that since the rule took effect California took just one driver out of service for a language violation despite 34,000 inspections, Washington removed four out of more than 6,000, and New Mexico none. Calling the measure a road-safety necessity rather than an immigration crackdown, Duffy said, “States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow.” The governors of the three states have not yet publicly responded to the threatened sanctions.