- FMCSA's ban on non-domiciled CDLs has been in effect for one month, and initial signs show states holding the line and, if anything, getting more aggressive.
- A chaotic immigration raid at a Pennsylvania DMV illustrates how fraught the situation is.
- Even non-domiciled CDL holders with approved visas have been denied.
One month after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's ban on non-domiciled CDL issuance, a chaotic raid at a Pennsylvania DMV might be the best indication of how it's going.
FMCSA since March 16 has cut off issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to all but a few narrow categories of business visa holders. The agency expects 194,000 of some 200,000 non-domiciled drivers to lose their CDLs over the next five years as credentials expire.
But for current non-domiciled CDL holders, medical certification updates still apply at least every two years. Also, even drivers with a valid visa might be getting denied CDLs, Overdrive has learned.
[Related: DOT Secretary Sean Duffy confronted by non-domiciled CDL driver at MATS]
That's what happened at a Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles office in Kittanning in early April.
According to local news and social media posts, locals noticed a big line of people who were not speaking English at the DMV. That wasn't well received, and locals began making reports to the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
"When they opened the [tractor] door, ten people came out," a local told CBS Pittsburgh.
Videos on social media show dozens of drivers lined up at the DMV.
“ICE responded to calls from the East Franklin Police Department after concerned citizens reported an abnormally large amount of individuals outside the PennDOT driver licensing center in Kittanning, Pennsylvania," a DHS spokesperson said. "ICE arrested 13 illegal aliens from countries including Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan and Turkmenistan."
In the scrum that unfolded, dozens fled, and at least one assault against an officer took place, DHS said.
"One illegal alien resisted arrest and assaulted a local officer -- a crime," the DHS spokesperson added. "Residents thanked ICE for investigating their concerns and responding to their calls."
PennDOT also confirmed the incident and gave some important context.
"We are aware of reports of immigration enforcement activity in the area of the West Kittanning Driver License Center in Armstrong County on April 3," a spokesperson said.
Pennsylvania isn't exactly a "sanctuary state" where local authorities don't cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, but "PennDOT did not coordinate with federal officials in any capacity in relation to this activity," the spokesperson said.
Back in November, DHS said it arrested a "wanted terrorist" with a Pennsylvania non-domiciled CDL. DHS called out Pennsylvania for issuing a CDL to the driver, saying he was in the country illegally. The state countered that DHS's own vetting systems had green-lit the credential.
PennDOT also issued an important clarification about this most recent incident -- it's not issuing non-domiciled CDLs anymore, in accordance with federal law.
"The West Kittanning Driver License Center was not issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, but rather was processing medical form updates for current holders of non-domiciled commercial learner’s permit or driver license holders, which resulted in a large number of customers at West Kittanning," the spokesperson said.
PennDOT hasn't been issuing non-domiciled CDLs since September 2025, when FMCSA first attempted to ban them.
"PennDOT remains steadfast in following state and federal law, and there is no activity or transaction occurring at West Kittanning or elsewhere that violates state or federal law," the spokesperson said, adding that each CDL applicant gets run through a federal database.
FMCSA called out Pennsylvania for bad CDL issuance practices in the past, but unlike California, the state seems to have cleared up issues, and didn't lose any federal funding.
[Related: California capitulation: CHP finally enforcing English language proficiency roadside]
Neither DHS nor PennDOT explained exactly why so many non-citizen drivers all needed their med-card updates on the same day, but perhaps uncertainty is the point.
In another indication of the pressure on foreign drivers, New York lost $74 million in federal highway funding for failing to rescind and revoke thousands of wrongly issued non-domiciled CDLs, DOT said on Thursday.
FMCSA makes no secret of its wish for non-citizen drivers to exit the industry, and DHS has been a steady partner not only in that pursuit, but often by having them exit the country as well.
Visa holders denied non-domiciled CDLs
Meanwhile, even visa holders explicitly granted CDL privileges by FMCSA's rule haven't had any luck.
Jan and Rob Baker, a pair of owner-operators with a long hauling history abroad, and qualified for an E-2 Treaty Investor visa, were recently denied a non-domiciled CDL by their state.
The E-2 visa allows citizens of close allies to the U.S., and who invest substantial money, to come here and operate a business. In this case, the big investment was buying a truck.
In September, Florida denied their CDL renewal, but the pair were able to get Canadian CDLs.
"We have just bought a truck and are trying to get insurance to get it home and the company we were going to use will not accept a Canadian CDL for insurance purposes although FMCSA says Canadian and Mexican licenses are reciprocal," the Bakers said.Jan and Rob Baker
"We still have to run on Canadian licenses even though we have E-2 visas, as Canadian licenses are reciprocated between the two countries," the Bakers said. (They called it "BS" that they can get a Canadian CDL without an address in Canada, but not a U.S. CDL in the state where they own a house.)
"The other problems we are having is a lot of insurers don't accept Canadian licenses or charge us a lot extra to use them," the Bakers added.
Florida reasoned the truckers can't get U.S. CDLs as they're citizens of Canada, though Canada is a treaty ally.
Perhaps its all part of FMCSA's "aggressive" new strategy to work with DHS and stamp out fraud and foreign influence in trucking.
On the English Language Proficiency front, inspectors have certainly sidelined thousands.
Last year, after roughly 12,000 out-of-service ELP violations issued following the June 25 return to the OOS criteria, this year's on pace for similar or greater OOS-violation numbers, judging by Overdrive sister data company RigDig's analysis of federal data.
Through roughly early-mid-March, a total 6,498 OOS ELP violations were recorded this year. Here's the picture by state:
Currently, a non-domiciled CDL holder's court case could halt FMCSA's ban. Overdrive reached out to the legal team behind the challenge and hasn't heard back.
[Related: Meet the owner-op who stopped FMCSA's non-domiciled CDL purge]
