President Donald Trump’s moves to stem the tide of foreign drivers in America’s trucking industry are meeting widespread resistance in court.
Several pro-immigration activists and unions have sued against Trump’s restrictions on commercial driver licenses (CDL) for foreigners, court records show. The Trump administration has also detained hundreds of illegal migrant commercial drivers and implemented stricter vetting on visas for such drivers, according to the Department of Homeland Security and State Department.
The Trump Admin will continue to strictly enforce laws to keep America’s highways safe. No one will be allowed behind the wheel of any commercial vehicle—unless they are in this country legally, properly trained, and proficient in ENGLISH.
American lives depend on it. pic.twitter.com/KKB9hFMFpb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 12, 2025
Lawsuits against Trump’s efforts have yielded few victories, failing to save the lax Obama-era standards that allowed immigrants to increasingly flood a crucial American industry — often for cheaper wages and without knowing English, according to longtime truckers who previously spoke to the DCNF.
The sparks began to fly after the Department of Transportation (DOT) released an interim rule in September severely limiting CDLs for people not domiciled in the U.S. and a final rule in February. These actions came in response to several fatal crashes involving unauthorized foreign drivers on America’s roads in the past year and Trump’s April executive order demanding stricter CDL screenings for road safety. The DOT’s rule limits foreigners’ CDLs to certain categories of non-immigrant visa holders with more vetting, requires unexpired foreign passports and other documentation to prove CDL eligibility and compels states to check immigration status.
Yet another similar crash drew national attention after the DOT’s decision: police arrested a 21-year-old Indian semi-truck driver in October for allegedly killing three and hospitalizing four others in a highway accident. The Biden-Harris administration released him into the U.S. after he illegally entered in 2022. DOT investigations found that the Indian driver and countless other foreigners received non-domiciled CDLs unlawfully from California.
“Our roadside inspections and enforcement protocols have resulted in 20,000 English Language Proficiency (ELP) violations issued since June 2025,” the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “And thanks to our nationwide audit of state CDL programs, we have forced states to cancel 28,000 illegally issued licenses. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with states to secure the frontline to eliminate vulnerabilities exploited by bad actors and stop non-compliance before an unsafe driver ever gets behind the wheel.”
‘Illegal And Discriminatory’
Government worker and teachers unions, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and individual drivers challenged the federal CDL restrictions in an October lawsuit led by Public Citizen. They argued that the DOT did not establish a public safety threat tied to immigration and that it skipped proper public disclosure procedure for implementing the rule. “The harm caused by the Rule is devastating, imminent, and irreparable,” the plaintiffs said.
Public Citizen has received more than $4 million from the large liberal nonprofits Tides Foundation and George Soros’ Open Society Policy Center since 2018, tax filings show.
Washington’s federal appeals court declined to strike down the rule in response to the Public Citizen plaintiffs and others in an ongoing consolidated case in May. Claims that the immigration-based restrictions are “arbitrary” are unlikely to succeed, the court wrote.
“Rather than branding foreign drivers as uniquely dangerous, the [DOT] seeks instead to ensure that their vetting is no less rigorous than that of drivers domiciled in the United States,” the ruling says. “Such an overall approach is unlikely to be condemned as arbitrary.”
Public Citizen’s loss in court came despite D.C.’s federal appeals court previously blocking an interim version of the DOT rule three months before the DOT released its final rule, which has taken effect.
“The Trump administration’s cruel insistence on implementing this rule means that hundreds of thousands of drivers and their families will soon be deprived of their jobs and income,” Public Citizen attorney Wendy Liu said in February. “Immigrants should be allowed to work to support themselves, their families, and their communities. We are asking the court to strike down these illegal and discriminatory rules.”
Another case trying to save immigrant truckers flopped entirely.
The Chinese American Truckers Association (CATA) argued in a January lawsuit that the DOT’s rule and California’s compliance harms “otherwise-qualified commercial drivers” without providing reasonable pathways to obtain CDLs. The lawsuit showcased several CATA members facing CDL loss, including one described as a non-domiciled foreigner who was unable to upgrade his CDL from a restricted status after turning 21 due to Trump’s rule.
“Unless the Court compels [California] to resume standard processing, [the driver] remains trapped in a restricted license status, causing him ongoing economic harm and depriving him of the interstate career opportunities to which he is legally entitled,” the lawsuit says.
Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal ruled days later that “the public interest plainly and substantially weighs against” CATA’s demands because Trump may revoke federal funding from California for noncompliance. Both sides agreed to dismiss the case that month.
The Sikh Coalition, Asian Law Caucus and a California law firm also sued the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in December for moving to revoke more than 17,000 immigrants’ CDLs in compliance with the federal rule. “The DMV has provided no process by which affected individuals can contest the agency’s actions, show valid work authorization, or reapply for a corrected license,” the suit says.
“The DMV is aware that its actions will leave thousands of ‘eligible drivers in the cold without any resolution’ and that the sudden disappearance of them from our roads will disrupt our supply chains and services on which the public depends,” the groups complained, quoting a DMV spokesperson who previously criticized the Trump rule.
Alameda County Superior Court gave a mixed ruling in February, giving some a pathway to file proper documentation to avoid CDL cancellations, according to the Sikh Coalition and ABC7.
“We remain in close contact with our legal partners around potential additional efforts in California, and continue to share English and Punjabi language updates directly with as many truckers as possible,” the Sikh Coalition said in May regarding CDLs.
‘We Will Not Compromise’
Trump’s revamped vetting policies for foreign CDL applicants now involve the DOT, Labor Department, DHS and the State Department as of December, a State Department spokesperson told the DCNF.
Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.
The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) August 21, 2025
“The Department of State is thoroughly vetting and applying strict standards to every visa applicant seeking to operate a commercial truck in the United States,” the spokesperson said. “ This includes ensuring applicants have sufficient English language skills, a valid U.S.-issued or U.S.-recognized CDL or the ability to obtain one, and a prior history of safe commercial truck operation.”
“We will only issue a visa if the applicant demonstrates the necessary skills, experience, and English language proficiency required to safely operate these vehicles in the United States,” the spokesperson added. “We will not compromise on Americans’ safety.”
Immigration agents have also taken unknown numbers of unauthorized foreign motorists off the roads through widespread arrests of migrants who turned out to be commercial drivers. DHS press releases showed 338 arrests of illegal migrant truck drivers and CDL holders in Indiana, California and Oklahoma from October to December.
“Allowing aliens, many of whom do not speak English, to obtain commercial driver’s licenses to operate 18-wheelers and transport hazardous materials on America’s roads is reckless and incredibly dangerous to public safety,” a DHS spokesperson told the DCNF.
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Republished with permission from Daily Caller News Foundation
