WHEREAS, there has been a marked increase in the number of foreign born truck drivers in recent years with as many as one in five truck drivers in the U.S. is foreign born; and
WHEREAS, there has been an increase in the number of truck accidents since the removal of the English Language Proficiency requirement for truck drivers; and
WHEREAS, we applaud the efforts already undertaken by the Trump and Abbot administrations to curb this threat by testing for English language proficiency; and
WHEREAS, we applaud Transportation Secretary Duffy for taking emergency action and again the Abbott administration for complying with Sec. Duffy’s emergency action for restricting the criteria for issuing new non-domiciled CDLs and CLPs; and
WHEREAS, while the above actions are commendable steps in the right direction, that pausing the issuance of CDLs is necessary and was labeled as “emergency action” indicates that the process for obtaining said CDLs was flawed and allowed for dangerously unskilled drivers to obtain them; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that, in the interest of ensuring the safety of Texas roadways, we call on Texas lawmakers and leaders to revoke the CDLs of all non U.S. citizen truck drivers issued in Texas and prevent non U.S. Citizen truck drivers from other states from entering Texas until stricter credentialing mechanisms can be put in place.
Bibliography
- Houston Chronicle, February 27 2023. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/immigration/article/trucking-labor-shift-immigrants-houston-17774264.php
- “Addressing the U.S. Truck Driver Shortage: The Role of Foreign-Born Drivers, Visa Policy, and Supply Chain Impacts”, National Immigration Forum, October 17 2025. https://forumtogether.org/article/addressing-the-u-s-truck-driver-shortage-the-role-of-foreign-born-drivers-visa-policy-and-supply-chain-impacts
- “The Broken Road-America’s Highway Safety Epidemic”, American Truckers United. https://americantruckers.com/crash-data
- “English Language Proficiency Testing and Enforcement Policy MC-ECE-2016-006”, USDOT FMCSA, June 15 2016. https://public.powerdms.com/MaineStatePol/list/documents/2630789
- “Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers”, Executive Order from President Trump, April 28th 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/enforcing-commonsense-rules-of-the-road-for-americas-truck-drivers
- “Governor Abbot Directs Texas DPS To Strictly Enforce English Proficiency Requirements For Truck Drivers”, September 4 2025. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-directs-texas-dps-to-strictly-enforce-english-proficiency-requirements-for-commercial-drivers
- “Protecting America’s Roads Restoring Integrity To non-Domiciled CDLs”, DOT FMCSA, Sept 26 2025. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/2025-09/Fact%20Sheet-Protecting%20America%27s%20Roads-Restoring%20Integrity%20to%20Non-Domiciled%20CDLs%20%285%29.pdf
- “DPS Suspends Issuance of Certain Commercial Driver Licenses”, Texas Department of Public Safety, September 29, 2025. https://www.dps.texas.gov/news/dps-suspends-issuance-certain-commercial-driver-licenses