Appeals court blocks Trump’s rules to stop illegal immigrants from getting truck driver permits

A federal appeals court put on hold Thursday the Trump administration’s new rules limiting commercial driver’s licenses, saying the Transportation Department cut too many corners in rushing the regulation out the door.

The Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a 2-1 decision, said the evidence shows the migrants targeted by the new rule actually have lower fatal accident rates than other drivers, undercutting the government’s justification.

That revelation, plus the hurried nature of the new rule, which was not shared with states in advance, makes it arbitrary and capricious, said Judges Florence Pan and Robert Wilkins, Biden and Obama appointees.

They also said the migrants themselves, as well as the economy, have come to rely on migrant drivers and that taking them off the road “would have public safety by forcing it to replace safer experienced drivers with less-safe new drivers.”

Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, dissented, saying she thought the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made a good showing of the need for the rule, which she said should have been good enough at this point in the litigation.

The rule at issue limited states’ ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses to people whose addresses were foreign domiciles but who live in the U.S.

The government said those drivers fell into a loophole.

Because much of their driving history exists in their home countries, states struggle to make determinations on whether they should be granted licenses.

Judge Henderson said that made sense, and it was an error for the court to substitute its judgment for the government.

“It should go without saying that our nation’s roadways are safer the fewer people there are operating eighteen-wheelers, buses and delivery trucks with unchecked driving histories,” she wrote.