Unions And Truckers Sue FMCSA Over New Rule Restricting Illegal Immigrant CDLs
Two of the nation’s largest public employee unions, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), have joined two individual commercial drivers in filing a lawsuit challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new emergency rule that severely restricts who is eligible for a non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s License (CDL).
The Petition for Review was filed yesterday, October 20, 2025, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. It targets the FMCSA’s interim final rule, “Restoring Integrity to the Issuance of Non-Domiciled (non-citizens) Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDLs),” which took immediate effect upon its publication in the Federal Register on September 29, 2025.
The new FMCSA rule was enacted in response to a nationwide compliance review that uncovered widespread state errors in issuing non-domiciled CDLs and a series of fatal crashes involving non-citizen drivers.
The rule significantly tightens eligibility, limiting new and renewing non-domiciled CDLs only to foreign nationals holding specific employment-based visas (H-2A, H-2B, and E-2), and explicitly making individuals with only an Employment Authorization Document (EAD)—including asylum seekers, refugees, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients—ineligible.
The lawsuit argues that the rule was issued improperly without a notice-and-comment period and will cause devastating harm to thousands of authorized workers.
Petitioners Jorge Rivera Lujan and Aleksei Semenovskii, both commercial drivers, are named in the filing alongside the labor organizations. According to public reports, one of the individual petitioners, Mr. Lujan, was denied his CDL renewal shortly after the rule went into effect, threatening his ability to maintain his business and livelihood.
In its corporate disclosure, AFSCME, which represents around 1.4 million members, and the AFT, with 1.8 million members, stated that they represent the interests of their members, including those with non-domiciled CDLs who are directly impacted by the new restrictions.
The suit seeks a judicial review of the new regulation, with the ultimate goal of invalidating the emergency rule. The outcome of the litigation could significantly impact the U.S. trucking industry, which relies on an estimated 200,000 current non-domiciled CDL holders who may not be able to renew their licenses under the stricter federal standards.
The FMCSA has stated the rule is necessary to address an “imminent hazard on America’s roadways” and enhance public safety. Comments on the interim final rule remain open to the public until November 28, 2025.
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