Federal judge slams brakes on Trump admin rule limiting commercial driver's licenses for immigrants
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. ruled on Thursday the Department of Transportation's (DOT) restrictions on immigrants obtaining commercial driver's licenses cannot be enforced.The restrictions were announced in September,...
By Fox News · Fox News
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. ruled on Thursday the Department of Transportation's (DOT) restrictions on immigrants obtaining commercial driver's licenses cannot be enforced. The restrictions were announced in September, after an illegal immigrant truck driver was accused of causing a tractor-trailer crash that killed three people in Fort Pierce, Florida. Harjinder Singh, an Indian citizen who allegedly illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico in 2018, pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter after allegedly jackknifing his truck during an illegal U-turn, causing a van to smash into the side of the tractor-trailer. The court found the federal government did not follow proper procedure when creating the new rule, or explain how the rule would promote safety. BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER SPEAKING LIMITED ENGLISH WITH NEW MEXICO OFFICER Judges also noted Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data shows about 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses belong to immigrants, though they only account for about 0.2% of fatal crashes. Singh, who received his license in California, failed his CDL knowledge exam in Washington state 10 times within two months and failed his air brakes knowledge exam twice, according to the Florida Attorney General's Office. He also failed an English proficiency test. An audit of California records showed that many immigrants' licenses remained valid long after their work permits expired, leading the state to revoke 17,000 licenses. BLUE STATE IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER ICE BUSTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH 'NO NAME GIVEN' ON LICENSE The new DOT restrictions would allow immigrants who hold three specific classes of visas to obtain commercial licenses valid for one year, and require immigration status to be confirmed via a federal database. Though the rules would disqualify about 10,000 of the 200,000 current immigrants with commercial licenses, the rules would not be enf…