The state of Illinois has paused issuance and renewal of non-domiciled CDLs for non-citizen drivers with temporary work authorization there, according to a Freedom of Information Act request for documents from the Secretary of State's office, which handles Illinois licensing.
On September 26, the day that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued its Interim Final Rule, effectively immediately, ordering all states to pause non-domiciled CDL issuance pending internal reviews, an email obtained by Overdrive was sent from Driver Services Director Kevin Deusterhaus outlining for all personnel across the state a series of changes.
As required by the FMCSA rule, Illinois, Duesterhaus noted, was pausing "the issuance of all non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs including renewals, upgrades, out-of-state transfers, corrected and duplicates."
The state disabled its online license/ID duplicate application and promised personnel a new "download" of a programming change that would in a more automated way prevent issuance to non-domiciled applicants. Deusterhaus outlined other possible scenarios for current non-domiciled CDL holders in the message obtained by Overdrive, using a Q&A format for scenarios 2-4 (emphasis Deusterhaus's):
- Current non-domiciled CDL holders "coming in for renewal" would be "only eligible for a non-CDL license."
- "An out of state non-dom CDL holder moved to Illinois, can we issue? No"
- "Existing non-dom CDL/CLP holder with a change (address, name, [date of birth], etc.), can we issue corrected CDL/CLP? No"
- Existing non-dom CLP holder scheduled for CDL test (today, next week, etc.), allow test and issue? No"
The Freedom of Information Act office in Illinois redacted a screenshot of a message that Deusterhaus included to preview for driver services personnel what was set to go out to prospective non-domiciled CLP and CDL applicants "to cancel their appointments, he noted. The message was set specifically to send to those who "have declared, or are in the process declaring non-domcile status."
Among states that shared data with Overdrive ahead of the July report documenting a sharp rise in non-domiciled CDL issuance around the nation, Illinois showed the largest increase in the percentage of total CDLs issued, with more than 40% of all CDLs in the state this year through April noted as non-domiciled. That's shown in the chart below and via reporting in the months before the July report's release.
In its press push last week about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids along interstates in Indiana, the Department of Homeland Security noted arrests of non-domiciled CDL holders in Indiana with licenses from Illinois, New York and California among the most commonly seen. Neither Illinois nor New York were among six states initially called out for non-domiciled CDL issuance irregularities by the FMCSA and Department of Transportation representatives in their rationale for the emergency rule halting most non-domiciled CDL issuance for non-citizen drivers.
[Related: Six states issuing CDLs 'not consistent with federal regulation': What's going on]
The Illinois Secretary of State media liaison did not respond to Overdrive requests for comment on what the state is finding about its own non-domiciled CDL program, likewise queries as to its efforts to stand up a revised program for applicants consistent with FMCSA's new regulation. Under the terms of the new rule, some employment-based visa holders from outside the country remain eligible for non-domiciled CDLs, though the U.S. Department of State issued a pause on visas for truck drivers the month prior to FMCSA's rule change.
Non-domiciled CDL holders, some owner-operators among them, have challenged the rule's legality in court, with a petition for an emergency stay currently under consideration in the federal appeals court for the Washington, D.C., circuit.
[Related: Drivers, do you support DOT's move against 200,000 non-domiciled CDLs?]
