MVD tightens commercial driver's license requirements for noncitizens

New Mexico has tightened up requirements for noncitizens seeking commercial driver’s licenses to comply with new federal rules in the aftermath of fatal crashes that officials blame on immigrant drivers.

The New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division said Thursday it will issue new and renewed commercial driver’s licenses only for people who hold three specific types of visas.

The U.S. Department of Transportation began a nationwide audit of commercial driver’s licenses after a driver officials say was in the country illegally made a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike on Aug. 12, causing a crash that killed two people.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull federal funding from New Mexico for failing to properly give the driver, Harjinder Singh, an English language proficiency test during a July 3 traffic stop near Raton.

State Taxation and Revenue Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke, who oversees MVD, said New Mexico rigorously complies with all rules issued by the federal Department of Transportation.

“Everything we do in the issuance of these CDLs and learner’s permits to (noncitizens) is compliant with everything that they’ve requested of us,” she said Thursday.

New Mexico issues a relatively small number of commercial driver’s licenses for noncitizens.

Since 2023, New Mexico MVD has issued noncitizens 500 commercial driver’s licenses and commercial learner’s permits, of whom 204 currently hold those licenses, the agency said Thursday.

Those numbers account for a fraction of the 38,411 active commercial driver’s licenses and 26,302 active commercial learner’s permits registered with MVD.

MVD was unable to estimate on Thursday how many noncitizens who currently hold commercial driver’s licenses will be unable to qualify for renewal.

In the past, MVD only required foreign nationals to have an Employment Authorization card to substantiate their authorization to work in the U.S., the agency said. Noncitizens also must present a foreign passport to obtain a commercial driver’s license.

Nationwide, only about 10,000 of the 200,000 noncitizens who now have commercial licenses would qualify for them, the U.S. DOT estimates.

To qualify, drivers must have one of three specific visas: an H-2a for temporary agricultural worker, an H-2b for temporary nonagricultural workers, or E-2 visa for people who make a substantial investment in a U.S. business.

MVD made the announcement Thursday to give noncitizens a heads-up about the tighter restrictions before they arrive for an appointment to get a commercial driver’s license, Schardin Clark said.

“We’re hoping we can get the word out to those individuals to inform them before they wait and come in so that they’re not surprised that they’re ineligible or that we can’t complete their transaction,” she said.