AUSTIN (KXAN) — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, during a Friday announcement on restrictions to who is eligible for trucking licenses, referenced a deadly pileup crash that happened on Interstate 35 in Austin earlier this year.
According to the Associated Press, Duffy’s announcement called for emergency action to drastically restricts who is eligible for a non-domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLPs) and commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs).
The rule is effective immediately and is in response to an ongoing nationwide audit by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and a recent series of fatal crashes caused by non-domiciled drivers, the announcement said. Under the new rule, the Department of Transportation will tighten up requirements for noncitizens to get commercial drivers’ licenses after three fatal crashes this year that officials say were caused by immigrant truck drivers who never should have received licenses, the AP reported.
According to the AP, the nationwide audit of these licenses began after a fatal U-turn crash in Florida that killed two people caused by a truck driver who officials said was in the country illegally. But Duffy said fatal crashes caused by truck drivers who shouldn’t have had licenses were also found in Texas and Alabama earlier this year.
One of those crashes was the I-35, multi-vehicle pileup that occurred late the night of March 13, 2025, on Interstate 35 near Parmer Road and Howard Lane. At least five people died and 11 others were injured in the crash.
“So this year alone, a series of horrific, fatal crashes have been caused by dangerous, non-domiciled, CDL Drivers,” Duffy said during the announcement. “So I want to go through a couple of examples. Pull the first one up here, on March 14th in Texas. A truck driver failed to brake and crashed into a long line of traffic. This caused a 17-vehicle pile-up. That killed five people, including two children, and 11 were hospitalized. A post-crash investigation revealed a history of unsafe lane changes, ignoring traffic signs, and multiple violations of service rules.”
The truck driver in that crash, Solomun Weldekeal-Araya faces five counts of manslaughter, along with 17 other aggravated assault charges, according to court documents. All of the charges are second-degree felonies, according to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Weldekeal-Araya was hauling a load for Amazon at the time of the crash.
About the rule
According to a fact sheet from the FMCSA on the rule, the rule “tightens eligibility, strengthens safeguards, and makes clear when these licenses must be canceled or revoked.
The rule does the following, as outlined by the fact sheet:
- Limits individuals eligible for non-domiciled CLPs and CDLs to foreign individuals in lawful status in the United States in certain employment-based, non-immigrant categories, certain individuals domiciled in a U.S. territory, and individuals domiciled in a state that is prohibited from issuing CLPs or CDLs because FMCSA has decertified the state’s CDL program;
- Requires non-citizen applicants (except for lawful permanent residents) to provide an unexpired foreign passport and an unexpired Form I-94/94A (Arrival/Departure Record) indicating one of the specified employment-based nonimmigrant categories, specifically H2-B, H2-A, and E-2 visas, at every issuance, transfer, renewal, and upgrade action de-fined in the regulation;
- Requires state drivers licensing agencies (SDLA) to query the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE, which is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to verify the accuracy and legitimacy of provided documents and information;
- Requires that SDLAs retain copies of the application documents for at least two years;
- Requires the expiration date for any non-domiciled CLP or CDL to match the expiration date of the Form I-94/94A or to expire in one year, whichever is sooner;
- Requires the applicant to be present in-person at each renewal; and
- Requires an SDLA to downgrade the non-domiciled CLP or CDL if the state becomes aware that the holder is no longer eligible to hold a non-domiciled CLP or CDL.
Read more about Duffy’s announcement here.
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