A federal judge temporarily barred the Department of Homeland Security from accessing subpoenaed commercial driver’s license records covering roughly 17 million drivers and ordered the agency to return any records already obtained without reviewing them.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Department of Homeland Security from obtaining records tied to approximately 17 million commercial driver’s licenses, interrupting a federal effort that comes amid the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on licensing violations, English-language deficiencies and improperly credentialed foreign truck drivers.
U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga issued an administrative stay Friday preventing DHS from accessing the subpoenaed records, according to The Gateway Pundit.
Trenga also directed DHS to return any records it had already received and ordered the department not to examine those materials before sending them back.
The judicial intervention stems from a lawsuit filed against DHS by 21 Democratic state attorneys general, placing the dispute over the commercial licensing data into federal court as the administration continues expanding enforcement throughout the trucking industry.
The records fight unfolds against a much broader overhaul of commercial driving rules under President Donald Trump. More than 20,000 unsafe foreign drivers have been removed from U.S. roads following enforcement measures connected to Trump’s executive order on trucking reform.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy has described the administration’s actions as an effort to restore enforcement standards that he said had deteriorated over time.
“The Trump Administration has hit major milestones in our efforts to rein in the trucking industry, which has been allowed to operate like the Wild, Wild West for far too long,” Duffy said.
“We’ve brought back common-sense rules of the road, including requiring English language proficiency and valid working documents for foreign drivers. When state leaders failed to keep Americans on the road safe, we stepped in and held them accountable, and we’re just getting started.”
The Transportation Department under Duffy has rolled out multiple policy changes affecting commercial drivers, including strengthened guidance requiring enforcement of English-language proficiency standards and rules mandating that commercial driver testing be conducted in English.
Federal officials have also used financial penalties and the withholding of federal money to pressure states accused of failing to meet those requirements.
California was assessed millions of dollars in penalties over noncompliance with English-language proficiency rules. After facing nearly $200 million in fines and withheld federal funding, the state began formally enforcing the English-language standards.
New York faced separate federal action involving commercial driver’s licenses. In April, the state was hit with a $73 million penalty for failing to revoke CDLs that had been fraudulently issued to non-domiciled drivers.
Those enforcement measures followed several high-profile crashes involving foreign truck drivers who, according to the administration, should not have been operating commercial vehicles on U.S. roads. Multiple incidents resulted in fatalities and intensified scrutiny of how states were issuing and monitoring commercial licenses.
Trump’s executive order became the foundation for subsequent Transportation Department enforcement intended to tighten licensing standards, verify the legal status and qualifications of foreign drivers and reinforce English-language requirements across the commercial trucking industry.
The administration has simultaneously sought to increase opportunities for U.S. military veterans to enter the profession.
Last month, Trump announced the “Freedom Haulers” initiative, which is intended to make it easier for veteran truck drivers to obtain commercial driver’s licenses after completing military service while the administration continues its enforcement campaign involving foreign commercial drivers.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the initiative combines the administration’s road-safety policies with expanded employment opportunities for veterans.
“President Trump’s administration has made our roads safer by taking illegal alien, non-English-speaking truck drivers off America’s highways. Now, through the Freedom Haulers initiative, the president is expanding opportunities for our veterans by making it easier to obtain commercial driver’s licenses once they conclude their service,” Kelly told Fox News.
The administration’s trucking reforms have therefore developed along two tracks: stricter enforcement against drivers and states accused of violating federal licensing standards, and efforts to make commercial driving careers more accessible to qualified veterans.
The latest court order, however, places an immediate limitation on DHS access to a large body of state-held commercial driver information.
Under Trenga’s administrative stay, DHS cannot obtain the subpoenaed records covering approximately 17 million commercial driver’s licenses while the dispute proceeds. Any records already transferred to the federal government must be returned without being reviewed.
The lawsuit brought by the 21 state attorneys general now sets up a broader legal confrontation over the federal government’s authority to compel access to commercial licensing information as the Trump administration continues tightening enforcement throughout the trucking industry.
Original article
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