Court blocks new US curbs on immigrants seeking commercial driving licences

The Transportation Department's new restrictions that would severely limit which immigrants can get commercial driver's licences to drive a semitrailer truck or bus have been put on hold by a federal appeals court.

The court in the District of Columbia ruled Thursday that the rules Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced in September a month after a truck driver not authorised to be in the US made an illegal U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people can't be enforced right now.

The court said the federal government didn't follow proper procedure in drafting the rule and failed to articulate a satisfactory explanation for how the rule would promote safety.

The court said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's own data shows that immigrants who hold these licences account for roughly 5% of all commercial driver's licences but only about 0.2% of all fatal crashes, the court said.

Duffy has been pressing this issue in California because the driver in the Florida crash received a licence in California, and an audit of that state's records showed that many immigrants received licences in California that were valid long after their work permits expired. Earlier this week, California revoked 17,000 commercial driver's licenses because of that problem.

Neither Duffy nor California Gov Gavin Newsom responded immediately Friday to questions about the ruling. Newsom's office has said the state followed guidance it received from the US Department of Homeland Security about issuing these licenses to noncitizens.

Duffy has said the Florida crash, along with fatal truck crashes in Texas and Alabama earlier this year, highlighted questions about these licences. A fiery California crash that killed three people last month involved a truck driver in the country illegally, only adding to the concerns.

The driver in the Florida crash, Harjinder Singh, appeared before a judge in St Lucie County, Florida, on Thursday, where his attorneys asked to continue his court proceedings into January as they prepare for trial. Singh has pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter.

The new restrictions on these licences would only allow immigrants who hold three specific classes of visas to be eligible to get the licences. States would also have to verify an applicant's immigration status in a federal database. The licenses would be valid for up to one year unless the applicant's visa expires sooner.

Under the new rules, only 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens who have commercial licenses would qualify for them, which would only be available to drivers who have an H-2a, H-2b or E-2 visa.

H-2a is for temporary agricultural workers while H-2b is for temporary nonagricultural workers, and E-2 is for people who make substantial investments in a US business. But the rules won't be enforced retroactively, so those 190,000 drivers would be allowed to keep their commercial licenses at least until they come up for renewal.

Trucking trade groups like the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have supported the new rule. There is a bill in Congress that would enshrine the new restrictions on commercial driver's licences in law.

For too long, loopholes in this programme have allowed unqualified drivers onto our highways, putting professional truckers and the motoring public at risk, said Todd Spencer, the trucking association's president.

Duffy has said that California and five other states had improperly issued commercial driver's licences to noncitizens, but California is the only state Duffy has taken action against because it was the first one where an audit was completed.

The reviews in the other states have been delayed by the government shutdown, but the Transportation Department is urging all of them to tighten their standards.

Duffy has revoked $40 million in federal funding because he said California isn't enforcing English language requirements for truckers, and he said earlier this week that he may take another $160 million from the state over these improperly issued licences if they don't invalidate every illegal licence and address all the concerns.