The Department of Transportation on Friday announced a new crackdown on the issuance of commercial driver's licenses to noncitizens and foreign nationals in the United States, suggesting state licensing bodies had engaged in “widespread non-compliance" of existing regulations that have contributed to a “troubling series” of crashes involving immigrant drivers.
The new interim final rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was issued on an emergency basis, bypassing traditional notice and comment periods to take effect immediately. The regulations impose tighter eligibility and stricter documentation requirements for those seeking “non-domiciled” commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) and learner’s permits (CLPs) — issued predominately to noncitizens and other foreign nationals — and mandates state licensing agencies cross-check applicants with the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), a longstanding citizenship verification system run by the Department of Homeland Security that’s been significantly expanded by the Trump administration.
“The process for issuing these licenses is absolutely 100% broken,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said when announcing the policy. “It has become a threat to public safety, and it is a national emergency that requires action right now.”
Duffy also singled out California specifically, pointing to an “egregious licensing situation” there that’s created an “imminent hazard to American travelers.”
He said state officials will have 30 days to comply with the new rules or the administration will begin withholding federal highway funds, starting with $160 million in the first year and doubling the amount the following year.
“It shows a reckless disregard for safety in California, and they should be ashamed of themselves,” Duffy said. “So, California has 30 days to fix this.”
Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, suggested Duffy was wrong to single out California and defended the state’s licensing processes.
“Former D-list reality star, now Secretary of Transportation, still doesn’t understand federal law. We’ll respond to today’s letter in due course,” Crofts-Pelayo told Scripps News in a statement. “In the meantime, unlike this clown, we’ll stick to the facts: California commercial driver’s license holders had a fatal crash rate nearly 40% LOWER than the national average. Texas — the only state with more commercial holders — has a rate almost 50% higher than California. Facts don’t lie. The Trump administration does.”
The new rules demonstrate the degree to which the Trump administration’s immigration agenda has permeated agencies throughout the executive branch and is just one of several recent transportation initiatives seen as cracking down on immigrant workers.
Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order mandating that commercial truck drivers be proficient in English or risk losing their licenses; Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was pausing all new worker visas for commercial truckers; and Duffy sought to restrict federal transportation funds for states that did not comply with Trump administration immigration directives, though that move was later struck down in court.
While announcing the policy on Friday, Duffy showed graphic images of recent roadway accidents involving drivers with non-domiciled CDLs, including an August crash in Florida that killed three people and garnered significant media attention, with some alleging that the crash was caused because the driver lacked English proficiency. Body camera footage later released by police showed him engaging with officials in English well enough that he likely wouldn’t run afoul of even the new Trump administration requirements.
A review of non-domiciled CDL state licensing practices initiated earlier this summer identified five fatal crashes in 2025 that involved drivers with such licenses. At least two of the drivers in question were “improperly issued a CDL,” the FMCSA said, while others “complied with the regulations in place at the time of issuance but would not be eligible for a non-domiciled CDL under the revised regulations.”
The new regulations also heighten concerns about an ongoing commercial trucker shortage and its impacts on domestic supply chains. Asked by Scripps News about the impact of these rules on the flow of goods throughout the country, Duffy dismissed such concerns, though he acknowledged the department did not specifically study what effect they’d have on supply chains.
Industry groups, for their part, praised the new regulations.
“Rules only work when they are consistently enforced, and it's imperative that all state driver licensing agencies comply with federal regulations,” Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association, told Scripps News in a statement.
Evan Fallor, who works with the group on policy communications, said they support “any enforcement action that makes our roads safer,” and noted the organization is currently working with the Trump administration to try to encourage more young people to pursue careers in trucking to alleviate the driver shortage.
