Up to 200,000 Immigrant Truck Drivers Could Lose Licenses Under New Trump Rule: 'They're Roasting Me Under Open Fire'

Up to 200,000 immigrant truck drivers could begin losing their commercial driver's licenses as they expire under a new Trump administration rule, a change that could affect roughly 5% of all CDL holders in the United States and add pressure to an industry already struggling with turnover and rising costs.

The rule, issued by the Transportation Department, bars asylum seekers, refugees and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, from obtaining commercial driver's licenses, even if they are authorized to work in the United States. Officials say the measure is aimed at improving road safety after several high-profile fatal crashes involving foreign-born drivers.

As The Washington Post points out, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last month that "for far too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing systems." He also argued that states often lack access to applicants' driving histories outside the United States.

Critics, however, say the administration has not shown evidence that immigrants with temporary legal status are more dangerous on the road than other drivers. "There's absolutely no evidence to support that claim," Wendy Liu of Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is challenging the rule in court, told NPR last week, adding that all CDL applicants must complete the same training and testing requirements.

The new restriction is part of a broader crackdown on immigrant truck drivers. In recent months, the administration has tightened English-language enforcement in roadside testing, threatened to withhold transportation funds from states over licensing practices, and moved to decertify hundreds of commercial driving schools after federal inspectors found safety and training deficiencies.

The Associated Press reported in February that more than 550 schools faced closure after investigators found unqualified instructors, inadequate testing and other violations.

The debate is also moving to Congres as Senator Jim Banks recently introduced legislation that would go further than the department's rule by immediately revoking licenses from the same categories of immigrants.

For drivers already in the industry, the rule could end careers and businesses built over years. Aleksei Semenovskii, a Pennsylvania-based asylum seeker from Russia who has driven long-haul trucks since 2020, told The Post that he will lose his license in September. "I have a completely clean moving record. No accidents. No violations. I pay taxes," he told The Washington Post. "They're roasting me under open fire for not having anything done illegal."

Originally published on Latin Times

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DACA, Congress