Ohio officials are cracking down on illegal foreign truck drivers and are in the process of revoking more than 1,000 commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) belonging to foreign truckers.
Charlie Norman, who serves as the registrar for Ohio’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), explained that roughly 5,000 truck drivers who have “non-domiciled CDLs” will be informed that their license is either being revoked or that it “is only valid until it expires,” Transport Topics reported.
Bret Crow, a spokesman with the Ohio BMV, confirmed to the outlet that, so far, 1,200 truck drivers were informed that their licenses were being revoked.
According to the outlet, the CDLs for those people are being “revoked based on documents initially provided to BMV” that are no longer in compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) rules for certain visas:
Foreign nationals who have non-domiciled CDLs are legally authorized to work in the United States but lack permanent residency.
“Those who previously submitted documentation that does meet FMCSA’s updated rules will receive a letter stating that their credential remains valid until its expiration date,” BMV stated.
The CDLs for the 1,200 foreign truckers were revoked based on documents initially provided to BMV. Those documents no longer comply with FMCSA’s updated rules mandating H-2A, H2B or E-2 visas.
“The state of Ohio does not intend to resume issuing new non-domiciled CDLs in the future nor will it renew any of the existing revalidated non-domiciled CDLs after they expire,” Brow explained. “At this time, the BMV has not finalized this full downgrade list. Approximately 1,200 individuals were sent notice of downgrade letters as part of the initial review batch.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy highlighted the news in a post on X, noting that the foreign truck drivers were unable to “follow” the United States government’s rules and prove that they were in the country legally.
“They couldn’t FOLLOW OUR RULES and prove they were here LEGALLY, so Ohio TOOK ACTION,” Duffy wrote. “Get ready, more crackdowns to come!”
In April 2025, Duffy warned that states that did not comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding non-domiciled CDLs being issued could have their funding withheld.
Duffy’s letter at the time, which was addressed to recipients of Department of Transportation (DOT) funding, informed states that they had “entered into legally enforceable agreements” with the U.S. government.
“As recipients of such DOT funds, you have entered into legally enforceable agreements with the United States Government and are obligated to comply fully with all applicable Federal laws and regulations,” part of Duffy’s letter said. “These law and regulations include the United States Constitution, Federal statutes, applicable rules, and public policy requirements, including, among others, those protecting free speech and religious liberty and those prohibiting discrimination and enforcing controls on illegal immigration.”
