TEXAS — Letytgvgal immigrant truckers and bus drivers in Texas say their lives were upended after the state began canceling non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses under new federal pressure and state enforcement actions. The cancellations have affected legally present noncitizens, including DACA recipients, asylum seekers, refugees, and temporary protected status holders, leaving some longtime drivers without trucking work, income, or clear notice before their licenses were revoked.
Veronica Viera, a 40-year-old DACA recipient in Houston who came to the U.S. from Guatemala as a child, was among the drivers affected. She had driven a bright pink 18-wheeler she called Pink Panther, hauling freight such as whiskey, produce, solar panels, and office furniture across Texas. Viera said she discovered her CDL had already been canceled while finishing a delivery in San Antonio. The loss forced her out of trucking, contributed to financial strain at home, and affected her family directly. Her husband also lost his trucking job, the family sold two trucks, and her oldest son left flight school because tuition was no longer affordable. Viera said she still feels connected to Texas after years of driving across the state and questioned why her immigration status would make her unsafe when she says she speaks English, trained in Texas, and has a clean record.
Other drivers described similar losses. Eunice Kamanu, a Fort Worth-area trucker from Kenya who came to the U.S. as an asylum seeker, said she had long dreamed of driving trucks and especially enjoyed remote hauling work tied to drilling operations. After her CDL was rescinded, she began driving for Uber, but said her income dropped sharply while she still had children and relatives depending on her. Roberto Linares, a temporary protected status holder from El Salvador who lives near Arlington, said he learned his CDL had been canceled only after reporting to work. He later took a lower-paying yard job, and his daughter had to leave a school soccer club because the family could no longer cover the costs. In Houston, school bus driver Rina Flores said losing her CDL meant leaving behind the students she transported each day; she had decorated her bus with encouraging messages and hoped the children would still see them even after she was removed from the route.
State and federal officials say the crackdown is about safety, English proficiency, and proper licensing oversight. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has argued that improperly issued CDLs create roadway risks, while Texas Governor Greg Abbott has said commercial drivers must be able to communicate clearly in English to follow traffic laws and safety instructions. Texas DPS said it revoked 6,407 non-domiciled CDLs and will review more than 3,300 expired licenses for renewal eligibility. Texas leaders have also called for reviews of crash data, stronger trucking school standards, and investigations into CDL schools accused of certifying drivers who were not properly qualified. Immigrant advocates dispute the safety justification and argue that the policy unfairly targets lawful immigrant workers without proof that they are more dangerous than U.S. citizen drivers.
The trucking industry remains divided on the impact. Some transportation experts warn that removing immigrant drivers could worsen labor shortages, raise freight costs, and hurt smaller carriers that cannot afford to leave trucks idle. Others, including the Texas Trucking Association, say noncitizen CDL holders make up a relatively small share of the state’s nearly 724,000 active CDL holders and may not significantly disrupt the market. Legal challenges are already moving in several states, including cases arguing that drivers lost licenses without proper notice or a fair chance to respond. For drivers like Viera, Kamanu, Linares, and Flores, the issue is no longer just policy — it is the sudden loss of work they built their families around.
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