AFT President Weingarten Celebrates Court Order Blocking Transportation Department’s Demand for CDL Drivers’ Data

WASHINGTON, DC- AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following after the United States District Court for Eastern District of Virginia stayed the federal government's demand for the private data of commercial driver's license holders in every state, in State of Illinois et al., Plaintiffs, v. U.S. Department of Transportation.

"No one's private information should be seized and weaponized as part of this administration's war on hard working immigrants. Our members - school bus drivers, maintenance drivers, inspectors - handed over their private information to do their jobs, not to be tracked by the federal government. This ruling is an important step forward to not only protecting the privacy of CDL drivers but a real check on the Trump administration's pattern and practice of illegal overreach.

"An earlier ruling protected drivers in only some states, but because AFT stepped in, the court has now blocked the entire federal data demand, protecting drivers in every state while this case proceeds.

"We know why the administration wants this data: the Department of Homeland Security has twice subpoenaed the same records for immigration enforcement. We implore the administration to focus on fixing our broken immigration system to create pathways to residency and citizenship, rather than using private data to detain and disappear workers who simply want to build a better life for themselves and their families."x

# # # #

The AFT represents 1.875 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.