Representing DACA recipient Jorge Rivera Lujan, asylum seeker Aleksei Semenovskii, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the Civil Claims Group have filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit to challenge both the substance of the rule and FMCSA’s failure to follow rulemaking procedures required by law, also demanding the immediate lifting of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) state of emergency regarding Commercial driver's licenses for non-permanent residents.

A new rule introduced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the DOT is aimed at limiting the number of non-citizens who can receive a CDL. 

Drivers who take our children to school, deliver food and medicine, and clean trash off the streets must hold a commercial driver’s license CDL to do their jobs.

Under the terms of the rule, 194,000 of the approximately 200,000 current non-permanent CDL holders will have their licenses revoked or expire without the possibility of renewal over the next two years.

The lawsuit challenges both the essence of the rule prohibiting work permit holders (for example, asylum seekers, refugees, and DACA recipients) from having a CDL.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to immediately invalidate the rule in order to prevent devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of people whose incomes depend on working as truckers.