200,000 Truck Drivers Face Losing Licences in US Crackdown on Immigrant CDL Holders

A major regulatory shake-up in the United States trucking industry is sending shockwaves through the sector, with an estimated 200,000 immigrant truck drivers facing the loss of their commercial driving licences under a new federal rule that came into effect on 16 March 2026.

The rule limits eligibility for non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licences (CDLs) to specific visa categories, namely H-2A, H-2B and E-2 visa holders. This effectively excludes asylum seekers, DACA recipients and several other non-citizen groups who have been actively working in the industry for years.

For many drivers, this is not just a policy change, it is a direct threat to their livelihoods.

One of those affected is Aleksei Semenovskii, a long-haul driver based in Pennsylvania who has been operating across the United States since 2020. Despite maintaining a clean driving record with no accidents or violations, he is set to lose his CDL in September. Semenovskii fled Russia with his family in 2019 under political pressure and rebuilt his life in the US trucking industry, even taking out a loan of nearly $200,000 to finance his truck and trailer.

Speaking to international media, he described the situation as devastating, saying his entire business and family stability now hang in the balance.

California Halts Plan to Revoke 17,000 Truck Licences After Immigrant Drivers Take Legal Action

Another driver, Jorge Rivera, who was brought into the US from Mexico as a child and later obtained legal protection under the DACA programme, now finds himself unable to renew his CDL. Rivera has spent over a decade building his own trucking company and says the news came as a shock after years of staying compliant with the law.

He now faces an uncertain future, with his business at risk of collapse.

The regulation follows a broader tightening of rules in the US trucking sector, including stricter enforcement around English proficiency and the revocation of accreditation for thousands of driver training centres.

From a South African perspective, this development raises important questions about labour policies in the logistics sector. The removal of such a large number of drivers from the system could disrupt supply chains and put additional pressure on an industry already battling driver shortages.

For now, thousands of drivers across the US are left in limbo, unsure whether they will still have a seat behind the wheel in the coming months.