New Lawsuit Challenges Punitive Trump Rule Against Immigrants Lawfully Holding Commercial Driver’s Licenses
Final Rule Will Destroy Livelihoods of Thousands of Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and DACA Recipients
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On behalf of two individual drivers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Public Citizen Litigation Group, AFSCME, and AFT today filed a lawsuit challenging a rule that bars asylum seekers, refugees, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who have work authorization from holding commercial driver’s licenses. These licenses are necessary for truck drivers, bus drivers, and delivery drivers, among others.
The plaintiffs previously filed a lawsuit challenging a similar rule issued by the administration in September 2025. In response to our motion, the Court granted a stay in the case, blocking the rule while the case proceeded.
After the end of the comment period, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a substantively identical final version of the rule on February 11, 2026.
The lawsuit, titled Rivera Lujan v. FMSCA, was filed on behalf of Jorge Rivera Lujan, Aleksei Semenovskii, AFSCME, and AFT.
“The Trump administration’s cruel insistence on implementing this rule means that hundreds of thousands of drivers and their families will soon be deprived of their jobs and income,” said Wendy Liu, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “Immigrants should be allowed to work to support themselves, their families, and their communities. We are asking the court to strike down these illegal and discriminatory rules.”
“Without a commercial driver’s license, I will lose my business and the income that allows me to provide for my family,” said Mr. Rivera Lujan, who has lived in the United States since he was 2 years old. “I have done everything that’s been asked of me to meet all qualifications.”
Mr. Semenovskii, an asylum seeker from Russia who has been driving trucks for more than five years, said, “Driving a truck is how I support my family. I’ve endured tremendous hardship but have fought to rebuild my life through trucking. For me and so many others, this rule will be a tragedy, destroying years of sacrifice and honest work.”
“Our country is already facing a cost-of-living crisis under this administration. Disrupting the supply chain with this cruel and short-sighted rule will only make it worse,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “The workers who drive our children to school, keep our streets clean and deliver essential goods like food and medicine depend on commercial driver’s licenses to do their jobs. By blocking lawfully present immigrants from obtaining these licenses, the administration isn’t just undermining their ability to support their families—it’s jeopardizing the essential services our communities rely on every day.”
“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—their American Dream will be dashed or deferred, all because of the pettiness of the president and his advisers.”