Almost 1,800 noncitizen truck and bus drivers without specific employment-based visas lost their commercial driver’s licenses Wednesday as a new statutory ban — inspired by recent traffic fatalities — took effect.
“Too many of these illegal drivers have killed innocent people and made our roads less safe,” Rep. Jim Pressel, the law’s author, said in a news release.
“Indiana is taking a stand to protect Hoosiers against these dangerous drivers who are exploiting our laws and licensure process,” added Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie.
U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement arrested a Kyrgyzstan national accused of killing four people in a crash along State Route 67 in Indiana in February. The agency alleges he entered the country illegally but was still issued a CDL in Pennsylvania.
Pressel’s House Enrolled Act 1200 narrowed eligibility by requiring that non-domiciled commercial drivers hold H-2A, H-2B or E-2 visas to receive and maintain their CDLs, effective April 1. The visas are for temporary agricultural and agricultural workers, as well as for investors. The provisions are similar to a recent federal rule.
“Nearly all non-domiciled CDL drivers have lost their CDL privileges with the passage of HEA1200. Those 1790 drivers were notified by mail,” Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokesman Greg Dunn told the Capital Chronicle in an emailed statement.
Previously, applicants could qualify by presenting REAL ID documentation for identity, lawful status, social security number, and residency — plus one of the following, according to the Indiana BMV:
- An unexpired employment authorization document, which is one way to prove work authorization for a specific time period
- An expired employment authorization document, accompanied by a Form 1-797 receipt or approval notice
- A valid foreign passport, accompanied by an approved Form 1-94, which is issued to noncitizens admitted to the U.S.
“Those are actual visas,” Pressel said of the new requirements. “… The thought process with the Attorney General’s Office and myself … was to really limit who we’re going to allow and how are they vetted.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita celebrated Indiana’s status as “the first state in the nation to take this commonsense action” in a post to X.
The law makes driving a commercial vehicle with a “false” CDL — or a foreign one, without additional entry documents — a Level 6 felony. An individual driver is subject to a civil penalty of $5,000, with employers at $50,000.
The law also blocks the BMV from expanding CDL testing to other languages. The agency currently administers the exams only in English, according to Dunn.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans last month to add an English-only CDL testing mandate to federal regulations.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.
