The Department of Transportation on Friday announced a new crackdown on the issuance of commercial driver's licenses to noncitizens and foreign nationals in the United States, suggesting state licensing bodies had engaged in “widespread non-compliance" of existing regulations that have contributed to a “troubling series” of crashes involving immigrant drivers.

The new interim final rule from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) was issued on an emergency basis, bypassing traditional notice and comment periods to take effect immediately. The regulations impose tighter eligibility and stricter documentation requirements for those seeking “non-domiciled” commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) and learner’s permits (CLPs) — issued predominately to noncitizens and other foreign

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