COLUMBUS, OHIO — An Ohio truck driver says the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles repeatedly turned him away when he tried to renew his commercial driver’s license — despite presenting documentation that federal rules explicitly accept — causing his CDL to expire and leaving him unable to work with his job now on the line.
Julio Soto, a Mexican immigrant working on his U.S. citizenship, holds a temporary green card known as a Form I-551. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s own published regulations, the I-551 is an accepted document for CDL renewal in his situation. But Soto said that each time he visited the Ohio BMV — more than 15 times in total — employees told him the document was not acceptable and that he needed a specific 10-year green card instead.
“They would just tell me that, ‘That’s not good, I cannot accept that. You only need a specific 10-year green card’ and all the times I asked, ‘Where does it say that I need a specific 10-year green card?’ They started to get a little aggressive,” Soto said.
Soto requested a formal hearing with the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which oversees the BMV, to address the situation. The hearing was scheduled for a week after his CDL expired. His employer has given him one week to resolve the matter or lose his job.
“They are misreading, misinterpreting these immigration documents and a lot of people are suffering for this,” Soto said.
The Hearing
Soto’s attorney, Philip Gerth, said the hearing held this week was convened to determine whether the BMV will renew Soto’s now-expired CDL. Gerth said the situation points to a broader training failure at the agency.
“Training is necessary. It’s clearly not been issued yet, so we need much better training on this issue,” Gerth said.
The BMV’s Response
Before the hearing, the BMV provided a statement saying FMCSA directs states to require applicants to submit immigration documents meeting federal regulations, specifically 49 CFR 383.71(b)(9) and 49 CFR 383.71(a)(5) Table 1, which states a permanent resident must present a valid unexpired I-551. “We have encouraged the individual referenced in the letter to provide documentation that meets the requirements detailed by FMCSA, an unexpired I-551. Presenting this documentation will allow the BMV to move forward with the application process for his specific credential. If he does not have an unexpired I-551, BMV cannot issue a CDL, per federal regulations,” the BMV said.
When asked to respond to the fact that Soto had presented his I-551 to BMV employees and was still turned away, the BMV stopped responding to media inquiries.
Soto will receive a written decision in his case within 30 days.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Interview courtesy of local media.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
