In the fall of 2025, a rumor began to spread online that the state of New York was issuing "no name given" commercial driver's licenses. The claim began to circulate after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, posted a photograph of such a license on social media and accused New York State of handing these out to "illegal immigrants" (archived):
As of this writing, the post had gained 5.7 million views and 107,000 likes. Several Snopes readers searched the website and emailed, seeking to confirm whether Stitt was correct and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) could have issued such a license.
Stitt added in his post that "OHP" (Oklahoma Highway Patrol) had apprehended 125 "illegal immigrants," including the individual to whom this license belonged.
Republican Congresswoman weighs in
The suggestion that the state may have issued this license to an undocumented immigrant further inflamed conversations, including among elected officials. For example, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York who said she intended to run for New York governor, said that a law backed by current Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, had made it possible to issue commercial driver's licenses to "criminal illegal immigrants." A statement on Stefanik's website read:
The Worst Governor in America Kathy Hochul has certainly fallen a long way from her start in Buffalo when she opposed drivers licenses for illegals as Erie County Clerk.
At every opportunity, Kathy Hochul has turned her back on New Yorkers to bend the knee to the radical Far Left of the Democrat Party that puts illegals and criminals first and hardworking law abiding New Yorkers last.
The latest bombshell discovery is that Kathy Hochul's dangerous and irresponsible 'Green Light Law,' allows criminal illegal immigrants to be issued commercial drivers licenses in some cases shockingly labeled 'No Name Given,' allowing them to operate 80,000-pound commercial vehicles across the country.
In the statement, Stefanik went on to attack the direction New York State had taken under Hochul's leadership, suggesting it was now a "sanctuary state" – that is, a state that limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
However, while the New York state DMV confirmed in an emailed statement that the commercial driver's license Stitt shared on X was authentic, the lack of name did not indicate it belonged to an undocumented immigrant. The DMV said it had issued the license to someone who had shown proof of lawful status.
We contacted both Stefanik and Oklahoma's Department of Public Safety to ask them how they responded to the New York state rules for identification documents, as well as the DMV's response to their accusations, both of which we will outline below.
Rules for NYS commercial driver's licenses
Stefanik was correct that New York has a so-called "Green Light Law," as the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act is more commonly known. This law, passed in 2019, "allows all New Yorkers age 16 and older to apply for a standard, not-for-federal purpose, non-commercial driver license or learner permit regardless of their citizenship or lawful status in the United States," according to the DMV website. But contrary to Stefanik's claim, this law would not have allowed an undocumented immigrant to apply for and receive a commercial driver's license like the one Stitt posted on X — only a standard non-commercial license or permit.
A standard license or permit in New York does not comply with federal REAL ID rules. In order to obtain a REAL ID-compliant license in New York, an applicant must show a social security card, two proofs of residence and proof of lawful status. A REAL ID license includes in the upper right corner a black circle with a clear, five-branch star at its center. The photograph of the license Stitt shared on X included this symbol, indicating it was REAL ID-compliant. In other words, the holder of this commercial driver's license had lawful resident status in the U.S.
New York State DMV responds
New York State DMV confirmed this was the case.
"This commercial driver's license was issued in accordance with all proper procedures, including verification of the individual's identity through federally issued documentation," a spokesperson for the New York DMV said in an emailed statement. "The individual has lawful status in the United States through a federal employment authorization and was issued a license consistent with federal guidelines."
Further, the spokesperson added, "this document was not issued under the Green Light Law." Providing more context for the lack of name, the spokesperson indicated the individual in question had a mononym – a single name, as opposed to a given (first) name and a surname: "It is not uncommon for individuals from other countries to have only one name." The spokesperson also included in the email a link to the federal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy manual, which outlines procedures for handling mononyms, which include a "no name given" notation. The USCIS policy manual reads:
When a benefit requestor has a single name, USCIS considers the single name as the family name. USCIS may insert No Name Given as the given [first] name in this circumstance.
In addition, the spokesperson shared an example for a federal Employment Authorization card for a person with a mononym. This example was redacted and did not belong to the person whose license Stitt posted on X (Note, it specifies "No 'Given' Name," referring to first name, not "No Name Given"):
(USCIS / NYS DMV)
Hochul responds
During an exchange with the press on Oct. 1, 2025, Hochul further explained that a "no name given" license met federal standards for identification documents. She added Republicans had "fabricated" this story:
There are people who — it is widely accepted in the federal government and passport processing, which is done by the federal government, that if you choose to use one name, a mononym, you're allowed to do that.
And so I think they just made quite a hysterical story about something as a means to deflect from the fact that this is the shutdown. Republicans are responsible and they are trying to grasp at anything they can, even wildly fabricated stories, despite the fact that this person was lawfully here, received this lawfully — you're allowed legally under federal and state laws to accept one name, that was not zero name.
We contacted Stefanik's office asking what she made of this contradiction. We also contacted Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, which leads the Oklahoma Highway Patrol asking whether the individual was in custody. We further asked them what they made of the fact that the Green Light Law would not allow an illegal immigrant to hold a commercial driver's license, and neither would a REAL ID-compliant license, permit or identity card. We will update this story should Stefanik or Oklahoma officials respond.