Nearly 200,000 US truck drivers are at risk of losing their commercial driver's licenses after the US Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a new rule that disqualifies many foreign-born truck drivers from getting or renewing their licenses. The rule, which took effect in March, has left tens of thousands of immigrant drivers in limbo, with lawsuits challenging the policy still under review in federal courts.
New Restrictions on License Eligibility
The rule restricts commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) to immigrants who hold specific employment authorization statuses, disqualifying those with other authorizations, including asylum seekers, refugees, and individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status. This has shaken immigrant drivers who have dedicated years to the industry.
Sarabjeet Singh, a truck driver from India who has worked in central California for the past 12 years, said he attempted to renew his license last month when it expired but was turned away. His wife, Kavita Patel, described the loss as devastating for their family. "This not only affected us financially, but this is a huge burden mentally, emotionally, physically," she said. "People think you can just find another job, but your entire skill set and experience has been built around driving this big rig." She added, "It's kind of a fear and helplessness that comes from waking up one day and realizing, 'Oh, guess what, your career that you built is suddenly all gone in one night.'"
Government Justification and Criticism
A spokesperson for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) deferred comment to a press release on the policy and denied that the change is racist. In the press release, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that licenses are "being issued to dangerous foreign drivers – often times illegally," calling it "a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road." Duffy cited five fatal accidents involving immigrant truck drivers to justify the rule, though these accidents comprised just 0.31% of all large-truck fatal accidents in the US for the first half of 2025. Notably, a fifth of truck drivers involved in fatal accidents were driving without a commercial license.
In April 2026, a non-domicile truck driver with DACA status confronted Duffy at an event, demanding to know why DACA recipients were being made ineligible for CDLs. Duffy claimed "well, it shouldn't" when asked why DACA holders are now prevented from having a license, but a FMCSA spokesperson later said he misheard the driver and misspoke. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made similar claims that immigrant truck drivers posed a safety threat and were "undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers," after the State Department abruptly stopped issuing work visas for commercial truck drivers last August.
Data Contradicts Safety Claims
Critics note that the Trump administration has provided no data to substantiate claims that foreign CDL holders pose a specific safety threat. About 5,200 large trucks were involved in fatal accidents in 2024, a 3% decrease from the previous year, according to the National Safety Council. The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, wrote in a letter to Congress that "while DOT premised its rule on safety, its own data indicated that the CDL holders excluded by the rule (immigrant drivers) were involved in fatal crashes at a lower rate than CDL holders who are not excluded, meaning the rule would worsen, and not improve, safety."
The administration's framing has shaped public perception: many public comments supporting the rule cite or mention "illegal" immigrants, despite the rule affecting immigrants with legal work authorization. Leaders in Democratic-led states like New York have tried to refuse the DOT's demand to revoke CDLs from certain drivers, but the DOT has threatened to withhold federal transportation funding in response.
Broader Targeting and Racism Allegations
Immigrant truck drivers say the rule unfairly affects those who are in the country legally, obtained their CDLs legally, and maintained clean driving records. The targeting predates the new rule: last April, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law an English proficiency requirement for truck drivers.
Ignacio Romero, who has worked as a truck driver in California for 37 years, said there is a broader move targeting foreign and drivers of color, likely stemming from the influx of immigrant truck drivers in recent years. From 2000 to 2021, foreign-born truck drivers in the US increased from 316,000 to more than 720,000. "I experienced a lot of racism throughout my 37 years of driving. We are constantly being profiled. I've been stopped three times this year," said Romero. "I believe the sentiment for our safety is right, but let's focus on the ones involved. Why just put a general blanket statement and punish 200,000 for the actual five drivers who were in accidents?" He added, "I've always been suspicious that it was more racism, more blanket statements than holding the individuals involved in those events accountable."
The rule also affects cross-border truck drivers. Julio Ortiz, a truck driver based in Mexico, said the rule is unfair as someone who frequently travels in and out of the US. "I believe it's a grave error to place such an obstacle in the path of people who simply wish to work honestly," Ortiz said.
Narinder Johal, a truck driver based in California for nearly 30 years, argued that the truck drivers who violate laws and obtain illegal licenses are not the ones affected by the rule change. "The people who were working, paying their taxes, fulfilling all the rules and regulations, what the government issued, they're off the road right now," said Johal.
Billy Randel, a truck driver based in New York for decades and chief organizer of Truckers Movement for Justice, argued that changes to the trucking industry have hurt all truck drivers, including US citizens. All truck drivers have faced lower wages and worse working conditions in recent decades for the sake of profit, yet the animosity is targeted at immigrants. "They're focused on the worker who speaks little, if any, English, who came here looking for a better life," said Randel. "They forgot their ancestors did the same thing."
