The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has indefinitely suspended the issuance and renewal of nonresident commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) for immigrants and other foreign nationals, following an order from the Trump administration. This has raised concerns that this could disrupt public transportation and school bus services in New York City.
According to local media outlet Godamist on the 19th, the DMV announced, “Under special direction from the federal government, New York State’s nonresident commercial driver’s license issuance program is suspended indefinitely.” The nonresident commercial driver’s license program is for foreign nationals, not citizens or permanent residents.
While this program has previously allowed a variety of immigrants, including those with employment authorization documents (EADs), visas, DACA recipients, and asylum seekers, to obtain commercial driver’s licenses, the Department of Transportation began significantly limiting nonresident CDL eligibility to H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visa holders through emergency rule changes last September, with the final rule set to take effect on the 16th of next month. Furthermore, the Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding if states don’t stop issuing commercial driver’s licenses to applicants who aren’t citizens or permanent residents.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy specifically raised the issue after a sample audit of 200 non-resident commercial driver’s licenses issued in New York found that 53 percent of them were illegal. According to federal regulations, licenses should have been issued only for the duration of the legal stay, but numerous violations were discovered, and if the problem was not immediately corrected, New York threatened a $73 million cut in federal funding and the possibility of decertification of the entire New York State CDL program. In response to this move by federal authorities, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles has suspended the issuance and renewal of non-resident commercial driver’s licenses. However, existing license holders can use their licenses until their expiration date. The drivers’ union immediately protested this.
The union raised concerns that the change in federal regulations would destabilize public transportation such as buses and school buses and criticized the New York state government’s decision. John Samuelson, president of the MTA Bus Drivers’ Union, criticized Governor Hokul, saying, “New York Governor Hokul has caved to the federal government’s threats.”
Governor Hokul’s side, in response, shifted the blame, saying, “The problem is not with the governor’s office, but with the policies of the Trump administration.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Motor Vehicles also criticized the change, saying, “The commercial driver’s license program is regulated by the federal government. This rule change is just another show by Secretary Duffy.”