Lawsuit challenges USDOT’s emergency rule to restrict issuance of non-domiciled CDLs

A recent action by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) that limits the issuance of non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) is facing a new legal challenge this week.

Lawsuit Challenges FMCSA Emergency Rule

On Monday, October 20, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit against USDOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) over a rule increasing federal oversight of how states issue CDLs and CLPs to persons who are not from the United States.

The suit, titled Rivera Lujan v. FMSCA, was filed by the Public Citizen Litigation Group, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and drivers Jorge Rivera Lujan and Aleksei Semenovskii.

On September 29, 2025, the FMCSA issued an emergency interim final rule (IFR) to ensure that “non-citizens will not be eligible for a non-domiciled CDL unless they meet a much stricter set of rules, including an employment-based visa and undergoing a mandatory federal immigration status check using the SAVE system.”

The IFR “threatens the livelihoods of nearly 200,000 people” including asylum seekers, refugees, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who have work authorization, according to an AFT news release announcing the lawsuit.

Suit Accuses FMCSA Of Issuing Rule With No Notice Or Comment Period

The lawsuit alleges that the actions taken against non-domiciled CDL and CLP holders by the IFR are illegal and that FMCSA failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures by issuing the IFR without notice or public comment period.

One of the plaintiffs, Rivera Lujan, is described in the news release as a DACA recipient and truck driver of 11 years who owns his own trucking company. He was reportedly denied a renewal of his CDL on September 30 due to the rule change, which went into effect immediately upon publication on September 29.

“Without a commercial driver’s license, I will lose my business and the income that allows me to provide for my family,” said Rivera Lujan. “I have followed all the rules and complied with all requirements set by the government.”

“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.”

“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.”