The Trump administration's crackdown on immigrant truckers shifts into higher gear [View all]
Source: NPR
March 12, 2026 5:00 AM ET
Jorge Rivera has been commercial trucker in the U.S. for more than a decade. So he was surprised when he went to renew his commercial driver's license last year in Utah, where he lives, and found out that he couldn't. "It was like a slap in the face, because I've done everything the right way," Rivera said. "I've stayed out of trouble. I've been a law-abiding noncitizen, is what I like to say."
Rivera was brought to the U.S. illegally from Mexico when he was 2 years old. He's enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA, which granted him permission to legally work in the U.S., among other benefits, and allowed him to get a commercial driver's license in 2014 and start his own trucking company. "At this point, I'm just pretty much bracing for the worst," he said.
Rivera is part of a lawsuit seeking to block proposed regulations from the Department of Transportation. The changes were sought by the Trump administration, which wants to make it harder for immigrants with temporary legal status to get commercial driver's licenses after several high-profile crashes involving foreign-born drivers. But the administration's critics say that would do little to make the nation's roads safer.
By the DOT's own estimate, the proposed regulations would force about 200,000 immigrants out of the trucking industry. That includes asylum-seekers, as well as immigrants with temporary protected status or DACA.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2026/03/12/nx-s1-5736253/immigrant-truckers-trump-crackdown
Link to FILING (PDF viewer) - https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27871978-20260226-motion-to-stay/
Link to FILING (PDF) - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27871978/20260226-motion-to-stay.pdf
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