Unions, advocacy groups and immigrant truckers have challenged new federal restrictions on non-domiciled commercial driver licenses, while the Trump administration says stricter vetting is needed to protect road safety.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump’s effort to tighten commercial trucking rules for foreign drivers has drawn a series of lawsuits from unions, immigrant advocacy groups and individual drivers, but federal courts have so far offered limited relief to opponents of the new restrictions, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation report.
The legal fights center on new limits for commercial driver licenses, or CDLs, issued to people who are not domiciled in the United States. The Trump administration has defended the rules as a public safety measure following several fatal crashes involving unauthorized foreign drivers, while opponents argue the restrictions are unlawful, discriminatory and economically damaging to immigrant truckers and their families.
The administration’s broader crackdown has included stricter visa vetting, expanded English-language enforcement, a nationwide audit of state CDL programs and arrests of illegal migrant commercial drivers, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The Department of Transportation first released an interim rule in September limiting CDLs for non-domiciled drivers, then issued a final rule in February. The rule limits foreign CDL eligibility to certain categories of non-immigrant visa holders, requires unexpired foreign passports and other documents, and directs states to verify immigration status before issuing licenses.
The DOT actions followed fatal crashes involving unauthorized foreign drivers, including incidents cited by DHS involving Florida and Indiana. Trump’s April executive order also directed stricter CDL screening and enforcement of road safety standards.
The issue gained additional attention after a 21-year-old Indian semi-truck driver was arrested in October for allegedly killing three people and hospitalizing four others in a highway crash. The driver had entered the United States illegally in 2022 and was released during the Biden-Harris administration. DOT investigations later found that the driver, along with many other foreign drivers, had received non-domiciled CDLs unlawfully from California.
Longtime truckers previously told the DCNF that earlier Obama-era standards allowed immigrants to enter the trucking industry in larger numbers, sometimes for lower wages and without knowing English.
FMCSA told the DCNF that federal enforcement has already produced major results.
“Our roadside inspections and enforcement protocols have resulted in 20,000 English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations issued since June 2025,” the agency said. “And thanks to our nationwide audit of state CDL programs, we have forced states to cancel 28,000 illegally issued licenses. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with states to secure the frontline to eliminate vulnerabilities exploited by bad actors and stop non-compliance before an unsafe driver ever gets behind the wheel.”
The main legal challenge came from government worker and teachers unions, the AFL-CIO, individual drivers and other plaintiffs who challenged the restrictions in an October lawsuit led by Public Citizen. The plaintiffs argued that DOT had not shown a public safety threat tied to immigration status and had bypassed proper disclosure procedures.
“The harm caused by the Rule is devastating, imminent, and irreparable,” the plaintiffs said.
Tax filings cited by the DCNF show Public Citizen has received more than $4 million since 2018 from the Tides Foundation, including additional Tides Foundation filings, and from George Soros’ Open Society Policy Center, including another Open Society Policy Center filing.
In May, the federal appeals court in Washington declined to strike down the final rule in the consolidated case. The court said claims that the immigration-based restrictions are “arbitrary” were unlikely to prevail.
“Rather than branding foreign drivers as uniquely dangerous, the [DOT] seeks instead to ensure that their vetting is no less rigorous than that of drivers domiciled in the United States,” the ruling says. “Such an overall approach is unlikely to be condemned as arbitrary.”
The ruling followed an earlier decision by the D.C. federal appeals court that had blocked an interim version of the DOT rule three months before the final rule was issued and took effect.
Public Citizen attorney Wendy Liu criticized the administration after the final rule was implemented in February.
“The Trump administration’s cruel insistence on implementing this rule means that hundreds of thousands of drivers and their families will soon be deprived of their jobs and income,” Liu said. “Immigrants should be allowed to work to support themselves, their families, and their communities. We are asking the court to strike down these illegal and discriminatory rules.”
Another challenge was brought in California by the Chinese American Truckers Association. In a January lawsuit, CATA argued that the federal rule and California’s compliance harmed “otherwise-qualified commercial drivers” by failing to provide reasonable pathways to obtain CDLs. The complaint cited several members facing license losses, including a non-domiciled foreign driver who could not upgrade his CDL from restricted status after turning 21 because of the Trump rule.
“Unless the Court compels [California] to resume standard processing, [the driver] remains trapped in a restricted license status, causing him ongoing economic harm and depriving him of the interstate career opportunities to which he is legally entitled,” the lawsuit says.
U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal, an Obama-appointed judge, ruled days later that “the public interest plainly and substantially weighs against” CATA’s request because Trump could revoke federal funding from California if the state failed to comply. Both sides later agreed to dismiss the case that month.
California’s handling of licenses also prompted litigation from the Sikh Coalition, Asian Law Caucus and a California law firm, which sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles in December. The lawsuit challenged the DMV’s move to revoke more than 17,000 immigrants’ CDLs in compliance with the federal rule.
“The DMV has provided no process by which affected individuals can contest the agency’s actions, show valid work authorization, or reapply for a corrected license,” the suit says.
The groups also argued that the loss of so many drivers could affect transportation and logistics.
“The DMV is aware that its actions will leave thousands of ‘eligible drivers in the cold without any resolution’ and that the sudden disappearance of them from our roads will disrupt our supply chains and services on which the public depends,” the groups said, citing a DMV spokesperson who had criticized the Trump rule.
In February, Alameda County Superior Court issued a mixed ruling that gave some drivers a way to submit proper documentation to avoid CDL cancellations, according to the Sikh Coalition and ABC7.
“We remain in close contact with our legal partners around potential additional efforts in California, and continue to share English and Punjabi language updates directly with as many truckers as possible,” the Sikh Coalition said in May regarding CDLs.
The Trump administration has also expanded vetting beyond DOT’s CDL rules. A State Department spokesperson told the DCNF that revised foreign commercial driver screening now involves the DOT, Labor Department, DHS and State Department as of December.
“The Department of State is thoroughly vetting and applying strict standards to every visa applicant seeking to operate a commercial truck in the United States,” the spokesperson said. “This includes ensuring applicants have sufficient English language skills, a valid U.S.-issued or U.S.-recognized CDL or the ability to obtain one, and a prior history of safe commercial truck operation.”
“We will only issue a visa if the applicant demonstrates the necessary skills, experience, and English language proficiency required to safely operate these vehicles in the United States,” the spokesperson added. “We will not compromise on Americans’ safety.”
DHS press releases also show 338 arrests of illegal migrant truck drivers, commercial drivers and CDL holders in Indiana, California and Oklahoma from October through December.
“Allowing aliens, many of whom do not speak English, to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety,” a DHS spokesperson told the DCNF.
The policy fight now spans federal licensing rules, state compliance, immigration enforcement and visa screening. While opponents continue to argue that the restrictions threaten livelihoods and supply chains, the administration says the new standards are aimed at preventing unsafe or unlawfully licensed drivers from operating commercial vehicles on U.S. roads.
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