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Together with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and two individual truck drivers, the AFT has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that would bar many immigrants—including asylum seekers, refugees, temporary protected status holders, and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals who have work authorizations—from holding commercial driver’s licenses.
The lawsuit was filed Feb. 13 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as Rivera Lujan v. FMCSA and argues that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s final rule is unlawful and threatens the livelihoods of thousands of legally authorized workers who rely on CDLs to support their families.
About 13,500 workers in the U.S. transportation industry, including school bus drivers, maintenance drivers, civil engineers and inspectors, are AFT members. Many of them are noncitizens.
Cities nationwide continue to grapple with short staffing of bus drivers and other commercial drivers. School districts and transportation systems are already struggling to find enough drivers, with low pay and underinvestment making these jobs harder to fill.
But instead of improving wages or working conditions to attract and keep transportation workers, the administration’s rule would reduce the pool of available workers even more. For example, Haitians in Boston on temporary protected status would lose their CDLs under this rule, worsening a severe shortage of bus drivers.
There is no evidence that this rule makes anyone safer or strengthens the workforce. Instead, it creates instability for lawfully present immigrant drivers and their families and puts added strain on essential public services. The workers and their unions are asking the court to pause the rule and protect the rights of lawfully authorized workers to continue doing the essential jobs that keep our communities running.
“Federal officials are supposed to help state and local governments do their jobs better—and more safely—but this rule is apparently designed only to punish immigrants,” says Matthew Emigholz, president of the Illinois Federation of Public Employees. “Excluding qualified immigrant drivers will only worsen the shortage of drivers, overtax U.S.-born drivers and make our roads less safe for everyone.”
An important caution is that even if the AFT prevails in this lawsuit, members should be aware that individual states may not immediately resume issuing CDLs to impacted immigrants. Some states are facing ongoing federal audits and pressure to stop issuing CDLs to immigrants, as the federal government alleges that these states are not complying with other Department of Transportation regulations and requirements. As a result, state-level implementation may vary, and additional delays or complications could occur.
Please contact the AFT’s legal department at ccooper@aft.org if you are aware of a member who has been affected by the new rule.
[Channing Cooper, Jennifer Porcari]