Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced an interim final rule that will make non-U.S. citizens ineligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet stricter requirements.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the program had gone unchecked in many states, leading to many unqualified drivers receiving CDLs and operating commercial motor vehicles on our nation’s highways. He added that the actions are in response to a series of fatal crashes caused by non-domiciled CDL holders.
“It has become a threat to public safety, and it is a national emergency that requires action right now,” Duffy said.
Since then, several states have announced actions to address the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs.
On Oct. 1, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles said that it stopped issuing non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits “until further notice.”
“These commercial licenses and permits are issued to individuals who are lawfully residing in the U.S. on a temporary basis,” the state DOT wrote in a news release. “Oregon DMV refers to non-domiciled credentials as limited term, because they are limited to the length of time the holder is lawfully allowed to be in the U.S. The pause includes every type of issuance: original, transfer, upgrade, renewal, replacement, amendment, correction, reprint or reissuance of a previously issued limited-term commercial credential.”
In June, the DOT announced a nationwide audit of states issuing non-domiciled CDLs.
According to the DOT, the audit discovered systemic non-compliance across several states, including California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and Texas. FMCSA said it discovered a “large number” of non-domiciled CDLs issued to drivers who were ineligible and whose licenses remained valid after their lawful presence in the U.S. expired.
Duffy also announced direct enforcement against California. The state must immediately pause the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and identify all non-domiciled CDLs that fail to comply with regulations. The state also must revoke and reissue all noncompliant non-domiciled CDLs if they comply with the new federal requirements.
The Texas Department of Public Safety announced on Monday, Sept. 29 that it was immediately suspending the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and all CDLs to non-citizens who are refugees, asylees or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. Missouri also said it was going to suspend testing for non-domiciled CDLs for anyone other than a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
It was also recently announced that Oklahoma partnered with ICE to arrest 130 truck drivers. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said the raid resulted to the arrest of illegal immigrants from a variety of countries.
How to comment
The public has through Nov. 28 to comment on FMCSA’s interim final rule. To do so, go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. FMCSA-2025-0622. Within days of the rule being published, more than 1,000 comments had already been submitted. LL
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