Second Circuit questions ‘confusing’ immigrant licensing rule that led to DOT pulling $73 million in New York road funding

Earlier this year, The Trump administration found New York to be in noncompliance with its commercial licensing issuance for immigrant truck drivers.MANHATTAN (CN) — The Second Circuit on Monday questioned the Trump administration’s cancellation of more than $73 million in highway funding for New York, a move the state says was part of the government’s broader campaign against immigrants in the United States.A government lawyer acknowledged that the interpretation underlying the penalty is “somewhat ambiguous.”“We have never taken the position that this was unambiguously clear,” Simon Jerome of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said during oral arguments on Monday. “I think it’s the best reading. I think we say this makes the most sense.”The statute at issue involves the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses, or CDLs, which are required to operate heavy trucks. When announcing the funding block in April, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused New York of failing to keep Americans “safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers” by refusing to cancel CDLs from certain noncitizen truck drivers.New York Attorney General Letitia James sued a week later, arguing that the licenses were lawfully issued and, contrary to Duffy’s claims, were given only to people with legal status.At oral arguments, Jerome said the state engaged in “substantial noncompliance” by refusing to pull commercial licenses that, under the Trump administration’s interpretation, were illegally issued. New York Assistant Solicitor General Anthony Raduazo countered that there is “zero” support in the record for that conclusion.“It is a textbook post hoc rationalization,” he said. Raduazo added that the government relied on an expiration rule for the licenses that had never been enforced before, resulting in New York supposedly being in violation for the first time ever.The battle has persisted for more than a year. Duffy said last summer that the Transportation Department would audit state licensing practices to identify drivers supposedly in the country illegally. The department later said it found evidence that New York had issued CDLs without verifying drivers’ legal status, prompting Duffy to demand the licenses be rescinded.Part of the approval process involves submitting unexpired work authorization and proof of lawful presence, which U.S. Circuit Judge Alison Nathan noted are not necessarily coterminous in their timing.“It’s my understanding that there could be slippage there,” said the Joe Biden appointee. “I mean, isn’t that confusing?”Regardless, Raduazo argued that the state’s compliance was sufficient and that it should not be penalized for how it issued the licenses. He likened the $73 million funding block to a “gradated penalty” that is actually below the required punishment for findings of DOT noncompliance.“There’s either a finding of ‘not in substantial compliance’ or there’s not,” he said. “It’s one or the other. There’s no lesser penalty.”The panel, which also included U.S. Circuit Judge Sarah Merriam, a Biden appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judge Matthew Schwartz, a Trump appointee, did not immediately rule following Monday’s arguments.The suit was filed directly with the Second Circuit because federal law requires challenges to final DOT agency decisions to bypass lower courts and go straight to the appellate level. California is pursuing a comparable case in the D.C. Circuit, which heard arguments earlier this month.When announcing New York’s lawsuit earlier this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul called the road funding cuts “nothing more than political payback.”“New York has always followed federal rules when issuing CDLs, something even the previous Trump administration verified year after year,” she said. “Ripping away money that goes toward critical safety upgrades on our roads is reckless and it is illegal.”The congressionally approved funding is reserved for road maintenance, safety improvements and infrastructure upgrades. According to the New York attorney general’s office, a lack of funding could delay or cancel transportation projects already underway across the state.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads