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Immigrant New Yorkers denied commercial driver licenses following Trump funding threat
By
Jessica Gould
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Karen Yi
Published Feb 19, 2026
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By
Jessica Gould
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Karen Yi
Published Feb 19, 2026
Share
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New York’s DMV has stopped issuing commercial driver licenses to many immigrants following an order from the Trump administration – a move unions say has major implications for the MTA and school bus service.
The Trump administration announced it was rolling out new license restrictions in the fall in response to crashes involving what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called “foreign drivers.”
The federal government threatened to withhold highway funds if states did not cease issuing commercial driver licenses to many noncitizen applicants.
As a fight plays out in court over the Trump administration’s demand, New York has paused the “non-domiciled” program, which allowed drivers who do not reside in the state, including immigrants legally in the United States, to obtain commercial licenses.
“Upon specific order from the federal government, New York’s non-domiciled CDL program is indefinitely paused, including renewals,” DMV spokesperson Walter McClure said in a statement.
The city wrote in a lawsuit that as many as 200,000 immigrants, most of whom are truckers, could be put out of work by the federal policy. Duffy has threatened to withhold $73 million in highway funds from New York.
Rosario Argueta, who has a visa from El Salvador, lost her job of 16 years as a school bus driver on Long Island earlier this month. She said the DMV informed her she would not be able to renew her commercial driver license because of the new restrictions.
“I love my job. I didn’t believe it,” she said. “They just kicked us out.”
She said her company, Suffolk Transportation Services, is keeping her on as an assistant monitor, where she'll earn $15 less per hour than in her previous job.
"What I could cover with a check or two, I'll have to do it with four checks now,” she said.
Argueta said she has asked her children in college to take on additional work, and may have to cut her tuition payments. She said she believes hundreds of her coworkers are also at risk of losing their commercial licenses and livelihoods because of the new rules.
"It still hasn't hit me,” she said. “And it's awful to know there are many of us in this situation."
Paul Quinn Mori, president of the New York School Bus Contractors Association, said about 5% of the state’s yellow bus drivers are licensed through the “non-domiciled” program, noting that all school bus drivers must undergo strict vetting that includes a criminal records check and fingerprints.
He worried the federal rules change would exacerbate a nationwide shortage of yellow bus drivers, making it even harder to get kids to and from school on time.
“We’ve been short drivers to begin with and now we’re excluding a whole group of people,” he said. “The thought of losing these drivers, it’s weighing on us, it’s hurting us.”
Carolyn Rinaldi, spokesperson for New York City’s largest school bus drivers union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1181, said the shifting guidance is destabilizing to school communities and unfair to drivers.
“They do not deserve to be punished for following the law and serving their communities with dedication and professionalism,” she said.
Bus drivers from the MTA are also affected.
Yunaikl Mora, a green card holder from the Dominican Republic, had been working as a bus driver for the MTA for nine months when she was informed that she wouldn’t be able to renew her commercial driver license.
Yunaikl Mora lost her license allowing her to work as an MTA bus driver.
Yunaikl Mora
Now she said she’s not sure how she’ll be able to support her 3-year-old son.
“I feel destroyed,” she said. ”I have people that depend on me, like my baby, so I’m struggling with that.”
Mora, who said she came to the United States because of “the American Dream,” is applying for citizenship.
“I was a good driver. When I'm behind the wheel I’m very conscious, very mindful. I'm respecting the law,” she said. “So that's hard when you're trying to do the right thing and this happens.”
Transport Workers Union International President John Samuelsen, who represents MTA bus drivers, denounced Gov. Kathy Hochul for bowing to the federal threat.
“This is another case of Kathy Hochul sticking it to working people,” Samuelsen said. “She wants her rich donors to think she's fighting while dumping working people into the wood chipper. This is about whether hardworking drivers can earn a fair wage and Hochul doesn't give a s--- about that.”
A spokesperson for Hochul said the problem stems from the Trump administration’s policies, not the governor’s office.
"The only person John Samuelsen should be blaming for this is Sean Duffy,” said spokesperson Sean Butler.
McClure, the DMV spokesperson, noted that commercial driver licenses are regulated by the federal government and called the rules change “just another stunt by Secretary Duffy.”
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transportation
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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