Rivera Lujan v. FMCSA (II)

On February 11, 2026, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a new final rule that bars asylum seekers, asylees, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and others with work authorization from holding commercial driver’s licenses. As a result, approximately 200,000 people currently working as commercial drivers will lose their licenses–and their livelihoods. These drivers include truck drivers, school bus drivers, delivery-van drivers, trash truck drivers.

Representing DACA recipient Jorge Rivera Lujan, asylum seeker Aleksei Semenovskii, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Public Citizen filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit to challenge the rule. On February 26, we filed an emergency motion to stay the rule’s March 16 effective date while the litigation is ongoing.

On behalf of the same clients, Public Citizen earlier challenged an interim final rule that was substantively the same as the final rule and succeeded in putting it on hold.