A federal appeals court panel grilled New York officials in their bid to unfreeze $73.5 million federal highway funds the Trump administration is withholding over allegedly not complying with the Department of Transportation’s crackdown on commercial driver’s licenses for noncitizens.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit heard arguments in New York’s effort to rescind the DOT’s April notice of final determination of substantial noncompliance, which failed to comply with the department’s revised standards for noncitizen CDLs and allegedly refused to correct deficiencies. One of the main disputes is over whether federal law requires the expiration date of the noncitizen CDLs to match up with the end of the noncitizen’s work authorization, something New York officials argue federal law does not say.
“Federal respondents have found the State of New York in substantial noncompliance for the first time in the 40-year history of the state’s commercial driver’s license program,” Anthony Raduazo, a lawyer arguing for New York, told the panel. “That determination is based solely on a purported failure to comply with an expiration rule for licenses issued to noncitizens that does not exist in any federal statute or regulation is not memorialized in any guidance document and has never been enforced by the federal respondents.”
Raduazo was questioned by the panel over whether the requirement was implied in federal law, rather than explicitly stated, something the lawyer for the Empire State pushed back on. One of the judges also asked Raduazo if the DOT has ever “suggested or demanded” that the state monitor the status of CDLs and the CDL-holder’s immigration status. Raduazo responded that DOT had not asked for that but also that the regulatory scheme “does not put the state DMV into the position of enforcing federal immigration law.”
Justice Department lawyer Simon Jerome, arguing for the DOT, also faced stiff questioning from the panel of judges, being asked about the Transportation Department’s finding that New York was not complying with federal regulations for CDLs. One of the judges also asked if any other states had been found in noncompliance and were suing over the finding, to which Jerome pointed to California’s ongoing lawsuit in Washington, D.C.,’s federal court.
Commercial driver’s licenses for noncitizens have become a hot-button issue for the DOT after multiple fatal crashes involving noncitizens who were granted licenses despite not meeting federal standards. The Trump administration has pushed forward with a crackdown on CDL standards for noncitizens, including language requirements and ensuring noncitizens with CDLs have work authorization.
The DOT found California noncompliant in January, telling the Golden State it would withhold $160 million in federal funding because it failed to cancel noncompliant CDLs. New York received a similar notice from the DOT in April.
APPEALS COURT GRILLS CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS OVER THEIR CHALLENGE TO NONCITIZEN CDL CRACKDOWN
The appeals court panel, which heard oral arguments in the New York case, did not indicate how they would rule or provide a timeline for when they would rule.
The three-judge panel on the 2nd Circuit included U.S. Circuit Judges Alison Nathan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden; Sarah Merriam, also a Biden appointee; and Matthew Schwartz, an appointee of President Donald Trump. Schwartz was confirmed to the 2nd Circuit earlier this year, and Monday marked his first regular sitting for arguments.