Sponsors (5)
The bill strengthens national security and road‑safety oversight by requiring immigration/work‑eligibility verification for CDLs and creating federal enforcement and remedies, but does so by imposing substantial criminal penalties, civil liabilities, administrative burdens, privacy risks, and expanded costs that sharply increase risks for immigrants, state/local agencies, employers, and taxpayers.
State and federal regulators and the public are more likely to get CDLs only for applicants whose immigration and work-eligibility have been verified, reducing the risk of invalid or ineligible commercial drivers operating in interstate commerce.
States gain uniform verification standards and a federal enforcement mechanism (DOJ injunctive authority) to address noncompliance, reducing inter-state variation in identity and work‑eligibility checks.
Persons injured by drivers using illegally obtained CDLs have new federal criminal penalties and civil remedies available, creating clearer routes for recovery and accountability after accidents.
Noncitizen applicants meeting the listed INA criteria face new serious criminal offenses, aggravated-felony and inadmissibility designations, and severe mandatory sentences (including life/death outcomes for fatal accidents), greatly increasing risks of incarceration, deportation, and bars to relief.
State and local governments face substantial new operational, legal, and personnel risks — including criminal liability for employees who issue CDLs without required checks, expanded litigation exposure, and added administrative and recordkeeping costs — which could deter staff and complicate licensing operations.
Businesses, small employers, and individuals who assist applicants are exposed to steep civil penalties ($50,000 each), treble damages, and new criminal exposure, creating strong incentives to avoid helping applicants and chilling testimony or assistance by witnesses and injured parties of immigrant background.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes it a federal crime for certain noncitizens to possess or use a CDL, requires E-Verify proof for CDL applicants, adds civil penalties, treble damages, and immigration consequences.
Official title: Amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain aliens from presenting or using a commercial driver's license in interstate or foreign commerce, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by John Cornyn · Last progress March 26, 2026
Creates a new federal crime prohibiting certain noncitizens who are inadmissible, deportable, or paroled under specific INA provisions from presenting or using a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in interstate or foreign commerce, and sets criminal penalties (including mandatory minimums for accidents causing injury or death). It also bans state or local officials from issuing CDLs to those noncitizens without verifying employment/immigration eligibility through E-Verify (or an analogous state system), adds civil penalties and a private treble-damages cause of action against violators and aiders, and requires federal reporting on enforcement. The bill also amends the immigration statutes to make the new offense an aggravated felony and an inadmissibility ground. Requires CDL applicants to present written proof of employment eligibility verified via E-Verify or a state alternative, obliges states to provide those verification documents to the U.S. Department of Transportation on request, and creates civil enforcement mechanisms (federal injunctions and state suits) for noncompliance and harms caused by violations.