Overview

• The new rules take effect immediately and restrict eligibility to non‑citizens with verified employment‑based visas who clear DHS SAVE immigration checks.
• FMCSA named six states with problematic practices—California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington—based on an ongoing nationwide audit.
• California was ordered to pause issuing non‑domiciled CDLs, identify and revoke improperly issued licenses, and faces loss of nearly $160 million in federal highway funds in the first year if it fails to comply within 30 days.
• Non‑citizen commercial drivers must renew in person annually, and CDLs will now expire when a driver’s U.S. work authorization ends.
• DOT links the crackdown to a series of deadly large‑truck crashes this year, and estimates roughly 200,000 non‑domiciled drivers will be affected as states implement the changes.