On September 26, USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced that he’d be taking “emergency action” to restrict eligibility for a non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).   

Issuance and renewal of driver’s licenses—including CDLs—is a state authority, but subject to federal performance requirements. States are authorized to issue CDLs to individuals who are not domiciled in their State, but if they choose to issue non-domiciled CDLs, they must do so in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).  

As part of this “emergency action,” FMCSA issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR), that will sharply restrict the number of individuals eligible to apply for a CDL. Specifically, the only individuals that will be eligible to receive non-domiciled CLPs or CDLs will be those with evidence of lawful immigration status “in certain employment-based nonimmigrant categories”. Specifically, only  holders of H2-A (Temporary agricultural worker), H2-B (Temporary worker performing other services or labor), and E-2 (Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability) visas will be eligible. (And as described later in this article, the State Department has paused H-2B visas for commercial truck drivers.) The definition excludes asylum seekers, asylees, refugees, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients among others, even if they are eligible for employment in the United States. 

The IFR also adds new compliance steps for DMVs. According to FMCSA an audit conducted earlier this year uncovered “systemic failures” in how certain states issue non-domiciled CDLs and permits to foreign nationals living in the U.S. FMCSA noted a lack of coordination with relevant immigration authorities that contributed to drivers with expiration dates extending beyond a driver’s legal stay in the U.S. As a result of the rule, State DMVs will be required to query a by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services databased known as SAVE (the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements), in order to verify the accuracy and legitimacy of application information. It also requires all non-domiciled CLP and CDLs to be renewed in person. 

FMSCA specifically called out the states of California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington, for “systemic non-compliance” in their processes for issuing non-domiciled CDLs. In addition to the emergency rule, Secretary Duffy announced direct enforcement action against California. The Department’s enforcement letter directs the state to immediately pause issuance of non-domiciled CDLs; as soon as practicable identify all non-compliant non-domiciled CDLs; and take immediate action to void or rescind all unexpired non-compliant non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs, and reissue the licenses in accordance with the new regulations. According to information provided to FMCSA by the California DMV, 62,000 drivers hold an unexpired non-domiciled CLP or CDL issued by the California DMV, as of June 1, 2025.  

Secretary Duffy’s announcement gave California “30 days to come into compliance, or FMCSA will withhold federal highway funds — starting at nearly $160 million in the first year and doubling in year two.” (The enforcement letter clarifies that the State has 30 days to respond to the preliminary determination explaining their corrective action or explaining why FMCSA’s preliminary determination is incorrect. This process is followed by a final determination by FMCSA, after which they may initiate the withholding of certain Federal-aid highway funds—up to four percent of the National Highway Performance Program and the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program funds that would otherwise be apportioned to California, beginning in FY 2027.) The enforcement letter also threatens decertification of California’s CDL Program, also subject to FMCSA’s final determination. 

The change in rule won’t affect drivers domiciled in Canada or Mexico, which are subject to reciprocity agreements. Such drivers are allowed to operate in the United States with a license issued by their country of domicile and therefore are already prohibited from obtaining a non-domiciled CDL (or any other type of driver’s license) from a State or other jurisdiction in the United States. Many of the errors identified in FMCSA’s audit related to California issuing non-domiciled CDLs or permits to citizens of Mexico, who were not DACA recipients and therefore not eligible for non-domiciled CDLs. 

The IFR builds on several prior Administration actions seeking to expand enforcement and constrain the labor pool relating to commercial truck drivers. In August, State Department Secretary Marco Rubio announced that State had paused the processing of work visas for applicants seeking to operate commercial trucks in the U.S., for visa applicants of all nationalities applying to operate trucks under the H-2B, E-2 and EB-3 visa classifications. In May, FMCSA released new guidance on enforcement of English language proficiency, directing officers to conduct interviews to assess whether a driver can sufficiently communicate in English, and in June added non-compliance with English-proficiency requirements to the North American Out-of-Service Criteria. 

The Administration cited details of five high-profile fatal crashes involving immigrant drivers driving commercial vehicles that have occurred since January. For context, in 2023 (the last year for which there is complete FARS data), the period of January – September saw a total of 3,636 fatal crashes involving large commercial vehicles. Despite what would appear to be a vast minority of fatal truck crashes driven by immigrant drivers, Secretary Duffy’s quote referred to the situation as a “direct threat to the safety of every family on the road.” 

“Driver Shortage” debates 

Given the sharp restriction of the pool of labor that will be eligible to apply for a CDL, it is likely to revive truck driver shortage concerns. The move was hailed by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), which applauded the Trump Administration for “seeing through the myth of a truck driver shortage.” OOIDA had previously called on governors to suspend issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and indicated their preference for “a greater barrier to entry” for truck drivers.  

The American Trucking Association (ATA) also released a statement of support for improving enforcement of CDLs, but the organization has long advanced the idea that action is needed to address a shortage of qualified drivers, which according to ATA reached 78,800 in 2022. Earlier this year as part of his testimony in the Senate, ATA President Chris Spear noted that “Over the next decade, trucking companies will need to hire roughly 1.2 million new drivers to keep pace with growing freight demand and an aging workforce.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2024 there were 2,235,100 Heavy and Tractor-trailer Truck Drivers, and the industry was projected to grow 4 percent over the next decade, in line with the average across all occupations. Other industry analysts note that difficult working conditions and hours, including many unpaid hours for truck drivers while waiting at docks, and uncompetitive salaries contribute to low retention rates. The median annual wage for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was $57,440 in May 2024.