Thousands of immigrant truckers lose commercial licenses in Trump administration crackdown

Amna Nawaz:

In March, some 200,000 immigrants began losing their commercial driver's licenses, which are required to operate large vehicles like semitrucks, buses and tractor trailers. It's part of a series of moves by the Trump administration to limit who can drive those vehicles after some high-profile crashes involving foreign-born drivers.

Lisa Desjardins is back now with the story.

Mynor Solares, Former Truck Driver:

This is the backbone of America. Everybody needs their goods.

Lisa Desjardins:

For over a decade come rain or shine, Mynor Solares of Portland, Oregon, drove a semitruck across the Western U.S.

But, suddenly, he has to end that career and with it the main source of income for his family of five.

Mynor Solares:

When I first heard of it, my heart started racing. I feared for the worst as soon as I heard it, and I was like, hey, I'm going to lose my license. I'm not going to be able to renew.

Lisa Desjardins:

In March, a Trump administration rule took effect barring some groups of immigrants with temporary status, including DACA recipients like Solares, from getting or renewing their commercial driver's licenses.

Citing a handful of fatal crashes involving immigrant truckers, the rule also applies to refugees and asylum seekers. Solares was brought to the U.S. illegally from Guatemala when he was 2 years old. At 14, he enrolled in DACA, which allowed him to legally work in the U.S., ultimately owning his own trucks.

Mynor Solares:

I love the job.

Lisa Desjardins:

He's driven for 12 years, but, late last month, his license expired. And due to the new rule, he can't renew it.

Mynor Solares:

They use the word safety. You're using it as a disguise. I believe your intentions are different, and safety could be one of them, but you're using that more of a playing card more than reality that what you're really trying to do.

I think they're trying to push their immigration agenda into the trucking industry.

Lisa Desjardins:

In the final rule, the Trump administration cited 17 fatal trucking accidents in 2025 it says were likely caused by noncitizen truck drivers. But that is less than 1 percent of the fatal crashes caused by truckers each year.

That one group of cases, though, have become major headlines.

Woman:

Three people were killed when a semitruck driven by an illegal immigrant plowed into traffic.

Man:

We do have new details after an undocumented migrant truck driver was charged with causing a crash.

Man:

An illegal immigrant truck driver suspected in a crash.

Sean Duffy, U.S. Transportation Secretary:

We have people on the roads that aren't safe, that aren't qualified that should never have the driver's license.

Lisa Desjardins:

But the drivers losing their licenses have met current requirements for qualification. This is part of a broader effort to limit who can drive trucks in the U.S.

Trump ordered more penalties for truck drivers who aren't English-proficient even though that is already a requirement. And during the State of the Union Trump urged, Congress to pass a road safety law, going further, immediately revoking all trucking licenses from most drivers with temporary status, a law named after a little girl.

President Donald Trump:

Dalilah Coleman was only 5 years old in June 2024 when an 18-wheel tractor trailer plowed into her stopped car traveling at 60 miles an hour or more. The driver was an illegal alien.

Lisa Desjardins:

In the balcony, Dalilah smiled in the arms of her dad. She's relearning how to walk. And after seeing his daughter nearly die from the crash, Marcus Coleman is on a mission.

Marcus Coleman, Father:

It's taken a toll on us in every which way possible.

Lisa Desjardins:

Coleman is pushing for a number of changes on the highways, including the blocking of some immigrants from driving trucks. There is no evidence that immigration status directly connects to driver safety, but Coleman says the statistics don't show the impact on people like him and Dalilah.

Marcus Coleman:

I think 17 accidents, even if it's out of 100,000, is 17 too many. I see the significance in the number. Every single person who's been impacted by this, we see the significance. We are that small number. And there's starting to become enough of us.

Wendy Liu, Public Citizen Litigation Group:

Every crash resulting in fatality or serious injury is a tragedy.

Lisa Desjardins:

Wendy Liu is an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group and is leading a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation rule, saying it is harmful, not helpful.

Wendy Liu:

There is no data to support the notion that immigrant status has anything to do with whether somebody is a safer driver. Requirements to get these licenses are extensive.

If the issue is that states are improperly issuing licenses to people who don't meet those requirements, then the right response is to tighten the administrative steps to make sure that licenses are not going to people who don't meet the requirements. It's not to impose this blanket wholesale exclusion on documented immigrants.

Lisa Desjardins:

In other words, the White House should look at issues in the overall system. Even supporters of this rule see that, like Lewie Pugh with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, a group of truck drivers and small trucking companies. He is concerned about recent immigrants...

Lewie Pugh, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association:

We don't have any history on what these folks' driving ability is.

Lisa Desjardins:

... and likes this new rule for that reason. But he says this does not address a far larger problem,trucker training and so-called license mills that approve new drivers easily.

Lewie Pugh:

In the state of Missouri, it takes over 1,600 hours of training to be a barber, but yet, to drive a truck, I mean, it's a matter of you got to pass a test and drive around some cones and you're a truck driver. I don't know anybody who died from a bad haircut, but lots of people can die from an ill-trained, bad truck driver.

So that's why we need to make sure these people are trained correctly, understand the rules of the road, and that's what we need to be working toward.

Narrator:

Improving safety on our nation's roadways.

Lisa Desjardins:

There are clear federal standards for training commercial drivers, but, late last year, the government found more than 40 percent of all trucking schools may not be following the federal regulations.

Bill Jones, Waste Pro:

This rule that lumps people into buckets based on where they're born or what their immigration status is isn't really getting to the root of the cause.

Lisa Desjardins:

Bill Jones is a divisional vice president at the waste and recycling collection company Waste Pro, and this rule threatens the work force his company has spent years and dollars to train right.

Bill Jones:

I think long term the biggest concern is that this rule reduces the available pool of talented and safe drivers in an already difficult work environment.

And, allegedly, it is focused on safety, but I've got people that have driven free for 15, 20 years, been safe, won all sorts of safety awards with the company, and suddenly they can't drive. So I'm not sure it's really safety.

Lisa Desjardins:

In California, Dalilah Coleman faces lifelong therapy. Marcus Coleman understands the politics here, and banning DACA recipients gives him pause, but he won't risk political momentum by separating them out.

Marcus Coleman:

I feel bad for their situation. I honestly do. I don't want Dalilah's Law to go against DACA. At the same time, I can't include DACA in Dalilah's Law. It would misrepresent what it is that it's going for.

Lisa Desjardins:

Back in Portland, Oregon, all this has left DACA recipient Solares in a mechanic's job that pays less than a third of what he made driving trucks, not enough to cover the bills.

Mynor Solares:

I think just putting everybody, generalizing everybody that's not a United States citizen isn't the right move. I'm American, you could say, at heart and in my mind. That is all I have known in the United States. Paperwork, immigration status is the only thing that's making me look different than everybody else here.

Lisa Desjardins:

And just that status, not his driving record, means he is one longtime safe driver being forced off the road.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.