California Attorney General Rob Bonta has joined a coalition of state attorneys general in challenging an interim final rule from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that would limit eligibility for commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) for non-U.S. citizens. The DOT estimates there are about 3.8 million CDL holders in the United States, with approximately 200,000 holding non-domiciled licenses—licenses available to individuals who are lawfully present in the country but are not citizens or permanent residents and who have met all required training and testing standards.
Attorney General Bonta and his counterparts argue that many of these drivers have held their licenses for years or decades and that the new restrictions lack evidence of improving public safety. In a comment letter, they assert that the rule exceeds DOT’s statutory authority, is arbitrary and capricious, and should be rescinded.
“The Trump Administration has politicized a handful of deeply tragic accidents in an attempt to advance the President’s anti-immigrant agenda,” said Attorney General Bonta. “It is doing so even though its own agency has admitted that there is no evidence to support the idea that revoking these licenses will have any benefit to public safety — in fact, just the opposite. This rule strips hardworking, lawfully residing immigrants of their means to make a living — seasoned drivers who transport people to work, bring children to school, transport food and goods to businesses, operate the construction vehicles that maintain and repair public roads, and provide many other indispensable services. I urge the Department of Transportation to course correct and rescind this rule.”
In California alone, around 65,000 individuals hold non-domiciled CDLs; under the new rule few would qualify for renewal. Tens of thousands could lose both their licenses and livelihoods with little notice due to what critics say was DOT’s failure to follow required procedures for public consultation and advance notice before issuing such rules.
Bonta’s office argues that this change could disrupt families’ lives as well as impact employers across sectors like freight trucking, school transportation, municipal services, private transportation companies, and construction—areas already facing driver shortages.
The coalition also contends that:
– The DOT lacks immigration authority.
– The safety rationale for the new restrictions is unsupported.
– The rule disregards reliance interests by drivers and employers.
– It violates requirements for public notice-and-comment periods.
– It fails to consult with states as mandated by federal law.
Attorneys general from Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington joined California in submitting comments against the rule.
