Federal Court Halts New Restrictions on Immigrant Commercial Driver's Licenses

Fri Nov 14 2025 20:48:08 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked new restrictions imposed by the Transportation Department that limit immigrants from obtaining commercial driver's licenses, citing procedural violations and safety data.

The Transportation Department’s recent restrictions on issuing commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants have been put on hold following a ruling by a federal appeals court. The court cited failures in procedure and inadequate safety justifications from the government. Only 10,000 of the 200,000 affected noncitizen drivers would qualify under the proposed new rules, raising concerns over the process of license issuance in states like California. The Transportation Secretary indicated potential actions against California for noncompliance.

The Transportation Department’s new restrictions that would severely limit which immigrants can get commercial driver’s licenses to drive a semitrailer truck or bus have been put on hold by a federal appeals court.

The court in the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the rules Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in September a month after a truck driver not authorized to be in the U.S. made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people can’t be enforced right now.

The court said the federal government didn’t follow proper procedure in drafting the rule and failed to “articulate a satisfactory explanation for how the rule would promote safety.” The court pointed out that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s own data shows that immigrants with these licenses account for roughly 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses but only about 0.2% of all fatal crashes.

Duffy has been pressing this issue in California because the driver in the Florida crash received a license in California, and an audit of the state's records revealed many immigrants held licenses that were valid long after their work permits expired. Earlier this week, California revoked 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses due to this problem.

Neither Duffy nor California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded immediately to questions about the ruling. Newsom’s office has stated that the state followed guidance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding issuing these licenses to noncitizens.

Duffy has expressed that the Florida crash, alongside other fatal truck accidents involving drivers in the country illegally, raised critical questions about license protocols. The driver in the Florida crash, Harjinder Singh, faces multiple charges for his role in the incident.

The proposed regulations would restrict eligibility to immigrants holding specific visa classes and require state verification of immigration status through federal databases. The fallout continues as industry groups support the rule in hopes of enhancing road safety, but criticisms remain over its potential impacts on immigrant workers.