A new bill in Congress wants to stop the U.S. from honoring commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) issued by Mexico and Canada. It would also make it harder for non-citizen truck drivers to get and keep a CDL in the U.S.

What’s going on: Rep. Beth Van Duyne from Texas put forward the Protecting America’s Roads Act on October 3, 2025. If passed, the bill would end the current agreements that let drivers with Mexican or Canadian CDLs run trucks in the U.S.

• The bill says the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) must scrap these agreements within six months if the law goes through.
• There are also new hoops for non-citizens: they’d have to prove their legal status and where they live, and get verified through DHS systems.
• CDLs for non-citizens would only be valid until their immigration papers expire, or for one year—whichever comes first.
• Renewals or transfers of CDLs could only be done in person.
• If a driver loses eligibility, the law directs states to revoke the CDL right away. States that don’t comply risk big penalties and even cuts to federal highway funding.

Rep. Van Duyne said the bill is meant to keep unsafe drivers—especially those who can’t read English road signs—off American highways. She argues people in Texas and Florida have died because of “third-world truck drivers menacing our roadways.”

The bill would put into law some of the emergency changes made by the U.S. Department of Transportation earlier this year. For more details on what’s in the bill, check the full write-up from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

If passed, the FMCSA will have six months to end CDL agreements with Mexico and Canada. States that don’t follow the new rules could lose their federal highway money.