Some 200,000 immigrant truck drivers will begin to lose their commercial driver’s licenses as they expire under a new Trump administration rule that takes effect Monday.
The Transportation Department’s rule will weigh on the beleaguered trucking industry, which is critical to transporting goods across America at a time when energy costs are surging due to the war in Iran.
The rule bars immigrants who are asylum seekers, refugees or recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses. And it’s part of the Trump administration’s widening campaign against immigrant truck drivers following several high-profile accidents last summer.
Those with valid commercial driver’s licenses will lose their driving privileges as their licenses expire, not immediately.
Aleksei Semenovskii, 41, of Pennsylvania, has driven long-haul trucks since 2020 and will lose his license in September.
“I have a completely clean moving record. No accidents. No violations. I pay taxes,” said Semenovskii, an asylum seeker from Russia and a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Trump administration aiming to invalidate the rule. “They’re roasting me under open fire for not having anything done illegal.”
About 200,000 immigrants in the United States hold about 5 percent of all commercial driver’s licenses, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Trucks are the main way that goods — from food to heavy machinery to hazardous materials — are transported within the United States, moving more than 70 percent of the nation’s freight, according to a trade group. With long hours, low pay, dangerous road conditions and extended periods away from home, trucking is plagued by high turnover rates. As Americans have left the industry, immigrants have moved in amid worsening working conditions and deregulation.
Under the rule announced on Feb. 11, immigrants with a variety of temporary protections would no longer be able to obtain commercial driver’s licenses regardless of whether they’re authorized to work in the United States. “For far too long, America has allowed dangerous foreign drivers to abuse our truck licensing systems — wreaking havoc on our roadways,” Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a statement announcing the rule last month.
Since last summer, the Trump administration highlighted a spate of fatal accidents involving immigrant truck drivers to push the new restrictions forward. Duffy has said that immigrants often cannot be vetted for their driving history outside of the United States. He has also suggested that those who have illegally obtained licenses have driven down wages and conditions for American truck drivers. Noncitizens must have work authorization to obtain commercial driver’s licenses in the United States.
Opponents of the rule say that the Trump administration is discriminating against immigrants without evidence that they cause more accidents. To obtain commercial driver’s licenses, immigrants and nonimmigrants alike have to go to driving schools and pass tests.
“The Trump administration has conceded that there’s no empirical relationship between a person’s nation of domicile and safety outcomes,” said Wendy Liu, a lawyer at the Public Citizen Litigation Group, which is leading a lawsuit against the rule.
In recent months, the administration’s clampdown on immigrant truck drivers has accelerated. The transportation department strengthened rules and enforcement of English-language requirements in roadside tests that have resulted in thousands of immigrant drivers losing the right to drive. The agency announced in December that it had revoked the accreditation of nearly 3,000 driver training centers for failing to meet federal standards. Duffy has threatened to withhold federal funds from states, including California, New York and Pennsylvania, that federal audits have identified as improperly issuing commercial driver’s licenses.
During the State of the Union, President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass legislation further restricting immigrants from obtaining such licenses. Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) introduced a bill the following day that would be even tougher than the transportation department rule, by immediately revoking all commercial driver’s licenses for the same group of immigrants. The bill is moving through Congress but has not yet made it to a vote.
Lewie Pugh, vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a trade group representing more than 130,000 small trucking companies and independent drivers, said that he supports the rule because it will make the highways safer. He said deregulation has drawn more poorly trained immigrants into the industry with lower barriers to entry.
“Our members support anything that will make the road safer not only for them but for all the families and motorists that they share the highway with,” Pugh said.
While transportation experts do not expect the rule to have a major impact on the industry, the regulations could lead to companies charging higher rates as the workforce shrinks, leading to higher prices for American consumers.
“I have not heard any concerns about labor shortages or significant disruption to the supply chain or transportation industry, but this change will be reflected in the cost of doing business,” said Gregory Reed, a transportation attorney who specializes in regulatory issues.
Semenovskii, the Russian asylum seeker, has despaired over what the looming rule will mean for his trucking business and his ability to support his wife and 14-year-old daughter. A lawyer by profession, he fled Russia for the United States in 2019 with three suitcases, after facing threats of a fabricated criminal case related to his government opposition, he said.
Hearing about driver shortages during the pandemic, Semenovskii started a long-haul trucking business. He took out loans of roughly $200,000 for a tractor and trailer that he’s still paying back. For the past four years, he has transported heavy machinery, building materials, food and Amazon merchandise across all 48 lower states.
“This [rule] is devastating for my family,” said Semenovskii, breaking down in tears. “I’ve built this small business relying on my driving privileges. I didn’t think anyone could take this away from me for just being an immigrant.”
The post Trump’s cancellation of licenses for immigrant truckers takes effect appeared first on Washington Post.
