Texas halts commercial drivers licenses for many immigrants

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Texas will no longer issue or renew commercial driver’s licenses to DACA recipients, refugees or people with asylum, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced Monday.

Commercial driver’s licenses, or CDLs, are for driving vehicles for business purposes, such as trucks carrying products or buses transporting people. It also includes other vehicles like cement and garbage trucks and party vans.

The state classifies CDLs given to legal noncitizens as non-domicile. According to information obtained by Overdrive, a news organization covering the trucking industry, of the 220,430 licenses issued by the state last year, 6,265 of them were non-domicile — or just under 3%.

Refugees make up around 1.2% of all truck drivers in Texas, according to the American Immigration Council, which also estimates that 1.1% of truck drivers in the state are people eligible for DACA.

Pending applications for CDLs for legal non-citizens will be terminated, according to DPS, which said the effort is “part of the department’s ongoing commitment to keeping Texas roads safe.”

President Donald Trump issued the new policy on a national level last week to “drastically restrict” non-citizens from getting CDLs, and is threatening to hold back federal funding from states who don’t comply.

DPS also pointed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s direction earlier this month to "strictly enforce” English proficiency requirements for commercial drivers in the state.

"Truckers play an instrumental role in Texas' robust economy and in keeping our highways safe," Abbott said in a press release. "Every commercial driver license operator on Texas roadways must be able to communicate clearly in English to ensure compliance with traffic laws, follow safety directions, and prevent accidents.”

Texas Trucking Association President and CEO John Esparza said the organization supports the governor’s policy change “to remove unsafe operators from our roads.” He added that it’s an effort “to eliminate fraud and remove unqualified drivers from our highways. This problem not only affects public safety but threatens our nation’s trade and economic well-being.”

DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is an Obama administration program that has given many undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children work permits and temporary protection from deportation.

This move comes on the heels of President Donald Trump tacking on a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, which are issued for specialized fields, especially the technology industry.

---

Shape the future of Texas at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin! We bring together Texas’ most inspiring thinkers, leaders and innovators to discuss the issues that matter to you. Get tickets now and join us this November.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.