NATIONAL — As a new federal rule takes effect stripping commercial driving privileges from an estimated 200,000 immigrant truck drivers across the country, two of those drivers are speaking out about what the change means for their livelihoods, their families, and the businesses they have spent years building.
Aleksei Semenovskii, a 41-year-old Russian asylum seeker based in Pennsylvania, has been driving long-haul routes since 2020 and is now set to lose his CDL in September despite having no accidents or violations on his record. Semenovskii — a lawyer by trade — fled Russia with his wife and daughter in 2019 with three suitcases after facing threats of a fabricated criminal case related to his opposition to Vladimir Putin’s government. During the pandemic, he took out a nearly $200,000 loan for a tractor and trailer he is still working to pay off, and has since spent four years hauling heavy machinery, building materials, food, and Amazon merchandise across all 48 contiguous states.
“They’re roasting me under open fire for not having anything done illegal,” Semenovskii told the Washington Post. “This is devastating for my family. I’ve built this small business relying on my driving privileges. I didn’t think anyone could take this away from me for just being an immigrant,” he said, breaking down in tears.
Jorge Rivera’s story is different but equally personal. Rivera was brought to the United States illegally from Mexico when he was just two years old and is enrolled in the DACA program. It gave him the ability to obtain his CDL in 2014 and start his own trucking company, which he has run for over a decade. He recently discovered he cannot renew his CDL under the new rules.
“It was like a slap in the face, because I’ve done everything the right way. I’ve stayed out of trouble. I’ve been a law-abiding noncitizen, is what I like to say,” Rivera told NPR. He said he does not know what he will do without his trucking license — he even has his company name tattooed on his body. “At this point, I’m just pretty much bracing for the worst,” he said.
The new federal rule, which took effect March 16, 2026, limits non-domiciled CDL eligibility to holders of H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visas only, effectively excluding asylum seekers, DACA recipients, and most other non-citizen categories from obtaining or renewing commercial licenses. The rule comes nearly a year after President Trump signed an executive order requiring truck drivers to speak English — a requirement that was already federal law. Since then, thousands of immigrant drivers have lost their right to drive commercially, and approximately 3,000 driver training centers have had their accreditation revoked for failing to meet new federal standards.
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