Unions sue Trump over immigrant drivers license crackdown

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

Two national public employee unions sued the Trump administration over its restrictions preventing illegal immigrants from obtaining commercial drivers licenses.

The American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a petition for review against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

The employee unions challenged a rule implemented by Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy restricting foreign individuals from receiving commercial drivers licenses.

Commercial drivers licenses are used for operating large vehicles such as tractor-trailers and buses. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow unauthorized immigrants to receive commercial drivers licenses.

In California, more than 25% of commercial drivers licenses were improperly issued, according to a Department of Transportation press release.

“The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely 100% broken. It has become a threat to public safety, and it is a national emergency that requires action right now,” Duffy said.

The unions argued these restrictions would prevent asylum seekers, refugees and DACA recipients from accessing commercial drivers licenses.

“This unlawful rule seems intended to put people authorized to work in the United States out of work, solely because of the prejudices of the Trump administration,” said Wendy Liu, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group, in a news release.

The Department of Transportation issued the rule to crack down on commercial drivers licenses for illegal immigrants after a deadly Florida collision involving a commercial tractor-trailer left three people dead.

The rule restricts noncitizen applicants to only those in visa programs like the H-1B, H-2A and H-2B. It also requires non citizen applicants to provide an unexpired foreign passport or arrival/departure record to obtain the license.

The rule would also require state licensing agencies to verify the accuracy of citizenship status and application documents in order to issue a commercial drivers license.

In a separate incident, an Oct. 21 collision on a California highway left three people dead after a semi-truck slammed into multiple vehicles.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Thursday that the driver of the semi-truck was an illegal immigrant who obtained his commercial drivers license in California. She said the driver of the semi-truck was intoxicated and driving under the influence and was released by the Biden administration after crossing the southern border in 2022.

“These tragedies are following a disturbing pattern of these criminal illegal aliens being issued commercial drivers licenses,” Leavitt said.

The employee unions argue that loss of commercial drivers licenses for immigrants will cause businesses and livelihoods to suffer.

“Drivers who take our children to school, deliver food and medicine, and clean trash off the streets must have these commercial driver’s licenses, and denying them inflicts unnecessary pain on everyone their lives touch,” said Lee Saunders, AFSCME president.