Lawsuit Challenges Punitive Trump Regulation Targeting the Livelihood of Immigrants

WASHINGTON— Public Citizen Litigation Group, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the AFT today filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to challenge a rule that threatens the livelihoods of nearly 200,000 people. Under the rule, issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on September 29, 2025, asylum seekers, refugees, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who have work authorization are barred from holding commercial driver’s licenses based on their immigration status. These licenses are necessary for truck drivers, bus drivers, and delivery drivers, among others.

The lawsuit, titled Rivera Lujan v. FMSCA, was filed on behalf of Jorge Rivera Lujan, Aleksei Semenovskii, AFSCME, and the AFT, and will challenge both the substance of the rule and FMCSA’s failure to follow rulemaking procedures required by law.

“This unlawful rule seems intended to put people authorized to work in the United States out of work, solely because of the prejudices of the Trump administration,” said Wendy Liu, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “We are asking the court to promptly invalidate the rule to prevent devastating consequences for our clients and the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who depend on commercial driver’s licenses for their livelihoods.”

Issued without the required notice and comment period, the rule states that it is effective immediately. When Rivera Lujan, a DACA recipient and truck driver of 11 years who owns his own trucking company, went to renew his license on September 30, he was told that he could not do so because of the new rule.

“Without a commercial driver’s license, I will lose my business and the income that allows me to provide for my family,” said Mr. Rivera Lujan, who has lived in the United States since he was 2 years old. “I have followed all the rules and complied with all requirements set by the government.”

Mr. Semenovskii, an asylum seeker from Russia who has been driving trucks for more than five years, said. “Driving a truck is how I support my family. I’ve endured tremendous hardship but have fought to rebuild my life through trucking. For me and so many others, this rule will be a tragedy, destroying years of sacrifice and honest work.”

“The administration’s new rule prevents immigrants who are lawfully present in the country and authorized to work from supporting themselves and their families,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “It also disrupts essential services communities rely on. Drivers who take our children to school, deliver food and medicine, and clean trash off the streets must have these commercial driver’s licenses, and denying them inflicts unnecessary pain on everyone their lives touch.” 

“For the Trump administration, the cruelty is the point,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “This is a spiteful and illegal rule issued with no justification except to hurt hundreds of thousands of lawful immigrants with work authorization who only want to build a better life for themselves and their families. Many AFT members require a CDL to work as school bus drivers—and right now we are seeing people turned away from training for these positions. Their American Dream will be dashed or deferred, all because of the pettiness of the president and his advisers.”