Overview
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit barred enforcement of the DOT’s new licensing restrictions for noncitizens, ruling on Thursday that the agency’s process and rationale were insufficient.
- The panel pointed to FMCSA data indicating immigrants hold about 5% of CDLs but are involved in roughly 0.2% of fatal crashes, undercutting the rule’s stated safety purpose.
- The blocked rule would have limited eligibility to holders of three visa categories, required verification of immigration status through a federal database, and issued one‑year credentials.
- DOT estimated the changes would disqualify about 10,000 of roughly 200,000 immigrant CDL holders, with no retroactive cancellations for existing licenses.
- The dispute has intensified after a fatal Florida crash that drew scrutiny to licensing practices, as California revoked 17,000 non‑domiciled CDLs following an audit and DOT withheld $40 million over English‑testing enforcement.