PennDOT driver fraud crackdown worries immigrants

HARRISBURG (AP) — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is holding off on a threat to cancel licenses for some drivers over questions about their Social Security numbers.

PennDOT said today it was delaying a threatened move to revoke the licenses after lawyers raised concerns about the process. The state transportation agency says it wants to give the recipients more time to obtain appropriate documentation.

PennDOT says that for the past two years it’s been trying to verify about 45,000 names in its computer system that don’t match Social Security Administration records. So far, 9,200 people have lost their licenses as a result.

In May, the department sent letters to a final group of 2,200 drivers, but lawyers for immigrant groups say that doesn’t jibe with the large numbers of questions they’ve been fielding about the letters in recent weeks.